Treasured Heart
by Tardis19
Summary: The last time they met, they were both left with scars. Fifteen years later, they find themselves working together to find an elusive shipwreck and the treasure that it holds. AU/AH/M
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: *waves* Hello! So, I'm back with a new story. As always, putting up a new story always makes me nervous, but I'm hopeful that you'll like it. I will let you know that this is a slow burn, so there won't be any rushing into the romance. Updates will be every Sunday unless something comes up. Huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesome beta skills.**

* * *

 **Bella – 2001**

"Bells!" Dad called, and I looked up from the book I was reading on the couch and out the open back door. "Come out here for a sec!"

Heaving a sigh, I got up after placing my bookmark in my book and made my way outside and toward the dock where my dad was standing with a man around his own age. I grinned when I saw it was Carlisle Cullen, my dad's old college roommate. Dad and Carlisle tended to go on sailing adventures once a year, but I was usually at my mom's when they went, so I hadn't seen Carlisle in ages.

I rushed over to them and gave Carlisle a quick hug, not even realizing that there was another person beside him.

"You remember my son, Edward," Carlisle said, and I did a double take because the tall, gorgeous man beside Carlisle was nothing like the Edward I remembered. Granted, I hadn't seen Edward in about five years, but he'd definitely grown up. He was even cuter than Justin Timberlake, and that was saying something because Justin was my ultimate crush and the cutest boy I'd ever seen until now.

"Hey," Edward said with a nod, and I felt the blush on my cheeks brighten.

"Why don't you show Edward around while Carlisle and I talk?" Dad suggested, and I wanted to kill him. I was awkward enough around boys that I knew, so I wasn't sure I'd even be able to talk to Edward without drooling or making a fool of myself.

"Okay, um, follow me," I said, leading Edward toward the back of the house.

"So, uh, this is the living room," I began after we walked in the back door, and I quickly gave Edward a tour of the house, stumbling over my words and blushing the whole time.

Eventually, I led him back out to the porch where we sat in awkward silence, watching as our dads talked to each other.

"Do you dive?" he asked me after a few minutes, and I nodded my head.

"Yep. Dad taught me at an early age. He's a professor of archeology, but his true love is marine treasure hunting, so he got me diving as soon as I was able to swim. Do you dive?"

He nodded his head as well. "Yeah, but it's not really my thing."

"So, why are you guys here?"

He rolled his eyes as he told me that his dad had found some information on a shipwreck that his dad and mine had been obsessed with in their younger years.

My interest was immediately peaked. I loved doing research about shipwrecks, and it was even more cool getting to dive down and see the remains of them.

"Which ship?" I asked him.

"The _Sirène_ ," he said, and my jaw dropped.

"No way! Your dad found it?"

Edward shrugged a shoulder.

"He thinks he has."

"That's so cool," I said, and it to me it was, but Edward didn't seem all that interested.

"I guess," he said, crossing his arms over his chest and staring at his dad.

"The _Sirène_ went missing in the 1700's from France. Supposedly, it was on its way back to France from the British Virgin Islands. Rumor has it that there was a heart shaped brooch in its coffers that is known as the Treasured Heart. The heart is a huge ruby with emeralds and dia—"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know," he said, with an eye roll. "I've heard it all before."

"You don't believe it?"

"It's a rumor, kid. You can't believe everything you hear," he said in a harsh tone, and I shrunk back in my chair, letting out a huff. I was sixteen, not six, and I wasn't stupid.

"Whatever," I muttered before picking up one of the old magazines that dad had left lying on the outdoor table, and I began to read about the best fishing spots in the southern United States, doing my best to ignore the cute jerk next to me.

I looked up from the magazine when my dad and Mr. Cullen walked over to us, laughing with huge smiles on their faces.

"Are you sure you don't want to stay here tonight, Carlisle?" Dad asked, and Mr. Cullen shook his head.

"Nah, we've got the boat," he said before shaking my dad's hand and motioning for his son to join him.

With a wave my way, I watched as Edward and his dad walked away, and I turned to look at my dad.

"What's going on, Dad? Edward mentioned that his dad found the _Sirène_."

Dad nodded as he informed me that Carlisle was pretty sure he'd found the ship's location down near the British Virgin Islands, and he had invited Dad to join him.

"If you're going, I'm going," I told him, arms crossed over my chest. There was no way I was going to miss out on this.

"Bells," Dad began with a sigh. "Your mother is expecting you for the summer."

I let out an ugly snort at his words. "Oh, please. She'll be thrilled not to have me around. Besides, she's got a new boyfriend, and I'm sure she'll want to spend all her time with him."

Dad let out a sigh as he stared at me before telling me that I would had to call my mother and let her know I didn't want to visit her in Phoenix.

"Fine," I agreed, rushing inside to do just that.

The conversation with my mother went exactly as I expected. She did her best to sound upset and put off that I didn't want to visit her, but there was a note of relief in her voice as well.

"Sorry, Mom. I'm sure I'll be back before the summer is over, and I'll spend a week with you then if that's okay?"

Mom agreed, and I let out a whoop after I hung up the phone before rushing to tell Dad that Mom was cool with me not visiting.

Three days later, Dad and I were boarding _Breaking Dawn_ , the boat, well yacht really, owned by Carlisle. And boy, was it a beauty. It was a hundred foot yacht, with four large staterooms, four and a half bathrooms, a huge living room, kitchen, and large decks.

Esme, Edward's mom, greeted me on the deck with a hug, which I returned, before she told Edward to show him where I'd be staying, and he begrudgingly agreed.

As I followed him down the stairs below deck, I noticed that he had a scowl on his face.

"Why didn't you just stay at home?" I asked him as he showed me to the cabin I'd be staying in.

"My folks want me here, so here I am," he said bitterly, and I rolled my eyes at his surly tone. It sounded like he'd rather be anywhere else than here, and I figured he'd rather spend his summer on a beach somewhere, partying with other frat boys because there was no way that Edward Cullen wasn't a frat boy.

I could barely contain my irritated sigh as he pointed to the room the that was mine. I dropped my bag on the bed before making my way back to the deck where my dad was talking with Edward's parents.

"Are you hungry, Bella?" Esme asked, and I shook my head.

"I'm good, thanks," I told her before making my way toward a deck chair and pulling my discman out of my pocket. Avril Lavigne's newest album had just come out, and I'd been listening to it on repeat for days, and I had a feeling I was going to need angry girl music to get me through the next seven days.

* * *

Three days into our trip, I was catching some sun on the deck with my headphones on when I heard Carlisle tell Edward that he needed to be nicer to me, and I scowled. I didn't need anyone to fight my battles for me, and I was silently cursing my dad.

Edward had been distantly polite to me, sometimes even rude, so I had mentioned it to my dad. Obviously, had said something to Carlisle, and now, Edward was going to think that I couldn't stand up for myself and that I needed my daddy to fight my battles for me. Not that I cared what he thought. He was just a selfish college jerk. One that I wasn't remotely crushing on at all.

I did my best to ignore Edward and his dad talking, but I found myself pausing my CD so I could hear what they were saying.

"Seriously? I haven't been mean to her at all," he said, crossing his arms over his chest, and I saw him shoot a glare my way out of the corner of my eye.

"I'm not saying that you've been mean to her, but you've been a bit dismissive," Carlisle said, holding up a hand when Edward went to speak. By now, I was totally watching them but trying to pretend that I wasn't.

"Just try to get to know her. We're all on this boat for the next couple of months. Everyone needs to get along."

"Fine," Edward growled before mumbling that he didn't have time to babysit any kids, and I glared at him.

As if he'd felt my eyes on him, he turned to look at me, and I stared right back. With a shake of his head, he turned around and made his way toward the stairs that led down below.

It was going to be a long freaking trip, and I was ready to just get to where we were going so that I could get off this yacht and get some space from The Jerk, as I was now calling him.

* * *

"How you holding up, kiddo?" Dad asked me on our fifth day at sea, and I shrugged a shoulder.

"I'm doing okay," I told him, but Dad wasn't buying that for a second.

"Uh huh," he said as he sat down across from me in the stateroom I was using for the trip. "This is the longest you've been at sea at one time, and we still have a couple of days to go."

"I'm just ready to get there," I said with a sigh as I flopped down on my back on the bed and stared up at the ceiling.

"Edward seems to be acting nicer," Dad commented, and I rolled my eyes because it was all an act that Edward was putting on. Whenever the adults were around, Edward acted nice and pretended to be interested in what I had to say, but as soon as they were out of hearing range, he went back to ignoring me.

"Yep," I replied.

"Are you regretting spending the summer with me?" Dad asked, and I sat up and shook my head.

"No way. I can't wait to get into the water and dive! I mean, how cool would it be if we really found the Treasured Heart? That would be freaking insane!"

Dad let out a laugh before agreeing with me.

He and Carlisle had stayed up late most of the nights since we'd left, trying to find the most accurate place to dive once we reached the Virgin Island Shelf near Jost Van Dyke Island in the British Virgin Islands.

Dad and I sat around talking for a while, something we hadn't done much of on this trip, and before long, I was yawning and trying to keep my eyes open.

"Bed, kiddo. I'll see you in the morning," he said, giving me a hug and telling me he loved me.

I was out quickly, lulled to sleep by the motion of the boat, and when I woke up the next morning, I felt better than I had the past couple of days. I could always talk to Dad about things, and he always made everything seem so much better.

I took a quick shower and made my way to the galley where Esme had breakfast sitting on the table. I grabbed some bacon and eggs, along with a slice of toast, and spent the next twenty minutes, eating and talking with her.

Esme was so nice and so easy to get along with, and she was the perfect epitome of a mom. She was incredibly sweet and loving, and I wished my mother was more like her. My mother was flighty and forgetful, barely remembering to pay her bills on time or remembering when my birthday was.

"Are you planning on college after high school?" Esme asked me as I helped her clean up breakfast.

"Yeah, I want to study maritime archaeology," I told her before explaining that I'd already picked out some of the colleges I wanted to go visit.

"Most of them are in Florida, so I wouldn't be too far from home, but there are a few schools in the Pacific Northwest."

"Sounds like you have it all planned out," she said with an easy smile, and I shrugged, telling her that it was something I'd been thinking about since junior high.

"I wish Edward was that together," she confided. "He's going into his sophomore year, and he has no clue what he wants to study. I realize that he doesn't have to declare a major just yet, but I hope he finds something that he loves."

"I'm sure he will," I told her, but I wasn't all that sure. I couldn't picture Edward studying anything at all. Well, nothing of academic importance. I was sure he spent most of his time studying the female form.

Once the kitchen was clean, I made my way up top toward the stern of the ship where the lounge chairs were. I sat down in one and closed my eyes, deciding to soak up the sun, but that didn't last for long. Dark clouds were rolling in quick, and Dad hollered for me to get inside.

I hated being on a boat during a storm. I loved the ocean, and I loved boats, but I hated being at sea when there was a storm. Storms caused the waves to grow larger and the water to become rougher, making me fear the boat would crash or sink.

I rushed down below deck and into my room, grabbing the life vest in the closet and turning around when I heard footsteps coming down the small hallway.

"You okay?" Edward asked, leaning against the doorjamb, and I noted there was actual concern on his face.

"Storms unnerve me a bit," I admitted, biting my lower lip and figuring that Edward probably thought I was a giant baby.

"Well, it doesn't look like it's going to be a bad one. It seems like the storm is far enough away that we'll probably only get a few swells with some rain and thunder."

I hoped he was right, but I flinched when a loud clap of thunder echoed across the sky.

"Why don't watch a movie or something?" he suggested. "It might help you take your mind off the storm."

I was game for that, so we made our way to the living room area, and he opened up a cabinet that held all kinds of movies.

"Pick one," he said, so I wandered over and looked through the shelves before finally settling on one.

"Is _The Emperor's New Groove_ , okay?" I asked.

Edward nodded, so I put the movie in to play and then sat on the opposite end of the couch that he was on.

As we watched the movie, the storm outside picked up, and I could have sworn there was an electric current in the air. My fingers were itching to reach out and touch Edward, take his hand or run my fingers through his hair, and I had no idea why. Maybe being stuck on this boat for the past six days had finally driven me insane.

All of a sudden, a large crash of thunder clashed nearby causing me to jump. I felt a warm hand on my shoulder and looked over at Edward, my eyes wide with worry and a slight bit of panic.

"We're fine," he said, and I nodded my head, desperately hoping that was true as the boat began to rock harder and the waves in the ocean swelled.

"You kids okay?" my dad hollered, and Edward couldn't remove his hand from my shoulder fast enough.

"We're fine," Edward replied before standing up and telling me he was going to go check on his mom, and I was left sitting there, staring after him.

When he didn't come back after a few minutes, I turned the movie off and made my way toward my room.

I shut the door and climbed onto the bed, laying down and wrapping my arms around one of the pillows.

I was lying there in the dark, listening the waves and the storm outside, wondering why the hell I felt so rejected. It wasn't like Edward and I were even friends, and I know that he just saw me as an annoying high school girl. Despite all that though, there was still that sharp pain of rejection when he'd yanked his hand off my shoulder like he'd been burned.

At some point, I must have fallen asleep because I woke up to my dad shaking my shoulder.

"What?" I asked, my eyes still closed.

"Storms over," Dad said, and I opened my eyes and looked at him. "Carlisle's cooked up some dinner if you're hungry."

I told him I'd be up in a few minutes, and once he was gone, I used the bathroom and washed my face. I took a few deep breaths, bracing myself to see Edward, and made my way to the galley.

Dad and Carlisle kept up a steady stream of conversation, outlining the plan for tomorrow once we arrived at our destination, and I did my best to pay attention. However, most of my time at dinner was spent glancing over at Edward who had yet to look my way, or so it seemed.

"Let's turn in early tonight," Carlisle suggested. "We're going to have a big day tomorrow."

* * *

 **a/n: Well, there it is. The first chapter. Please let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next Sunday!**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! I'm so glad that you all enjoyed the first chapter!**

 **I will let you know that I know nothing about diving, and I've done quite a bit of research about it as well as maritime archaeology, so any and all errors regarding those subjects are mine. And, I may take a few creative liberties along the way, but nothing too outrageous.**

 **A huge shout out to my beta, Heather, for her awesome beta skills.**

* * *

… **Chapter 2…..**

At quarter to six the following morning, Dad knocked on my door, letting me know that we had arrived and to wake up.

Immediately, I got out of bed and raced through my morning rituals of showering and brushing my teeth.

I put on my bathing suit before putting on a pair of cotton shorts and a tank top and then slipped my feet into a pair of sandals.

By the time I made it to onto the deck, my dad and Carlisle had gotten all of the diving equipment prepped and ready to go, and my excitement kicked in.

I couldn't wait to get in the water and begin the search for the _Sirène_ and the Treasured Heart. Oh, I knew there was a very slim chance we'd actually find it, but that didn't diminish my excitement in the slightest.

Edward, on the other hand, looked bored to death at the talk going on around him.

"Are you going with?" I asked him, and he shook his head before telling me he was going to stay on the boat with his mom.

Thirty minutes later, Carlisle, Dad, and I were in the water, armed with dive lights and knives. Carlisle also had a small underwater metal detector, so we were following his lead.

The further down we dived, the more alive the ocean became. There were fish of all shapes, sizes, and colors, swimming about, and I took a moment to take it all in. Seeing the marine life was one of my favorite things about diving, and I took a few pictures with the underwater camera attached to the belt around my waist.

Carlisle's voice came through our diver communication units, and he told us to spread out and look around for anything that might indicate we were in the right area.

Dad warned me not to go so far that he couldn't see me, and I gave him a thumbs up because he said the same thing every time we went on a dive.

I moved a few feet away and spotted something under the sand. Gently, I waved my hand a few inches above the sand to clear it off only to reveal a rock underneath.

For forty minutes, I surveyed the area I'd designated mine, but I didn't find anything beyond a few glass bottles, some rocks, and some seashells. Some of which I put in a small bag that I had with me.

"I've got nothing over here," I said over the communication unit.

"Same," came Dad and Carlisle's replies before Carlisle suggested we take a break for a few hours and try again later.

Once we were back on the boat, Dad and Carlisle went over to the map that was located just inside the wheelhouse. The map was pinned to the wall and had divided into different grids. Once we searched a grid area, they would mark it off, so we wouldn't waste our time searching the same location twice. If anything was found, it was also marked on the grid.

Stripping out of my dive gear, I rinsed off quickly in the small outdoor shower that was on the starboard side before drying off and walking back toward the bag I'd set down.

"What did you find, Bells?" Dad asked me, and I grinned when I pulled out the two glass bottles I'd found.

"For my collection," I explained. Dad had his own collection of coins and pottery, so he wasn't about to judge my bottle collection.

"Is there a sink I can use to clean these off?" I asked Esme, holding up the two bottles.

"Of course," she said, telling me I could use the kitchen sink, and I beamed.

With fresh water, some powdered dishwashing detergent I'd packed, and a little elbow grease, I had the first bottle cleaned and set it on a towel to dry.

I did the same with the second bottle, and once I had them both dry, I took them out to the deck to show my dad.

My paternal grandfather had owned an antique store, so my dad had grown up around antiques. He was my go-to source for anything I found on my dives.

"Check it out, Dad! It says Webb Double Soda on it," I said, handing him the first bottle.

Dad took it and examined it from top to bottom, turning it over in his hands.

"I'd date it between 1850 and 1870. It was used to hold carbonated water. It's not worth much. Forty bucks maybe," Dad said, but I didn't care about the monetary value.

"And the second one?" I asked, handing over the other clear bottle with the words Atwood's Jaundice Bitter stamped on it.

Dad said it was probably from around the same time period, maybe as late as the 1880's, and again, not worth much.

"Well, at least one of us found some treasure," Carlisle said with a grin my way, and I smiled back at him.

After we ate a lunch of grilled cheese and let our food settle, Dad, Carlisle, and I went back in the water. I'd learned that Esme hated diving, and Edward wasn't all that fond of it either which was why neither of them were going with us.

We spent another hour in the water, coming back empty handed. That wasn't all that unusual, considering we didn't have the actual coordinates of where the shipwreck was located. All we had were rumors and speculation.

* * *

Days passed without us finding anything, but my dad and Carlisle weren't discouraged at all. We'd taken a day to go into the closest port, refuel, and get groceries and supplies. Esme and I had done a bit of sightseeing as well, not that there was a ton to see, but it was nice to be off the boat.

"Oh, Charlie, Marcus said he'd be here in two days to help," Carlisle said as we all walked back to the port where the boat was docked.

"Sounds good," Dad said, but there was something in his voice that told me he wasn't all that thrilled about this Marcus guy.

"So, who's Marcus?" I asked later that night as Dad and I were chilling on the deck, looking at the stars.

"And old friend from college. He's into treasure hunting as well, but unlike us, he's willing to do anything to find what he wants."

"Oh," I said quietly. "So, he does illegal things?"

"Yes. Carlisle and I did a few dives with him before both you or Edward were born, and we swore we'd never work with him again after the crap that he pulled."

"What did he do?"

Dad shook his head. "Let's just say that I spent a couple days in jail and leave it at that. I'm extremely nervous that Carlisle is willing to work with him again, but I trust Carlisle. I always have, and I always will."

I nodded my head.

"I trust him, too.

* * *

Two days later, Marcus boarded _The Breaking Dawn_ , and I instantly disliked him. I wasn't alone.

"I don't trust him," Edward said, leaning against the railing next to me as we looked over to where the grownups were talking.

"Me neither," I said as I shot a glare at Marcus. He made the hairs on the back of my neck stand up, and I got a bad vibe from him.

"Dad says that this Marcus guy has done illegal things," I whispered to Edward, and his eyebrows shot up and a frown formed on his face.

"I don't know why my dad would call this guy in then," he said, and I told him my dad said it was because Marcus knowing something about the _Sirène_.

"I don't like it," he said with a scowl before shoving away from the railing and going toward the stairs leading to the galley.

I agreed with him one hundred percent.

* * *

A couple of days later, we had sailed the boat fifty miles north of where we'd been in order to search a new grid area, all of which had been Mr. Caius's idea. It wasn't that it was a bad idea, but it seemed that Mr. Caius was trying to take over the exploration, and that made me uncomfortable.

"Let's gear up," Dad said, and I went to grab my dive suit but was interrupted by Mr. Caius.

"Where do you think you're going?" he asked me, and I jumped at the sound of his voice because I hadn't realized that he'd followed me.

"To get my dive suit," I said, raising my chin up and staring at him.

"You're not going on this dive."

"Yes, I am," I told him, crossing my arms over my chest. Normally, I avoided confrontation and tended to do what I was told, but I wasn't going to let this smarmy guy tell me I couldn't go on this dive.

"No, you're not," he reiterated.

"Yes, I am," I repeated. "You don't get decide what dives I go on. You're not my boss, you're not my father, and you're not in charge of this dive!"

With those final words, I grabbed my dive suit off the railing where I'd left it and shoved my way past him, fuming. How dare that jerk try and tell me I couldn't go on a dive.

Seething, I made my way below deck toward my dad's room where I pounded on the door.

"What's wrong?" Dad asked moments later as he opened the door, and I burst in and slammed the door shut behind me.

"Mr. Caius," I sneered, "informed me that I'm not _allowed_ to go on this dive. I mean who the hell does this guy think he is, telling me what dives I can and can't go on."

Dad's eyes narrowed and darkened, and his jaw clenched. He was pissed, and my dad didn't often get pissed.

"Don't worry about him. You're going on the dive," Dad said, and I nodded my head, but I had a feeling Dad was going to be having a talk with Mr. Caius and set him straight.

"Go on, and get changed," Dad said, and I went to my room to do just that.

A few minutes later, I was up on deck and about to make my way over to the dive deck when a hand grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

"Quiet," Edward's voice whispered in my ear and goosebumps broke out along my skin at the feel of his breath on me.

"What?" I whispered back, and he told me to listen.

"You aren't in charge of this dive operation, Marcus," I heard my dad say. "You have no right to be telling my daughter she can't go on a dive."

"She's a child who has no business, searching for artifacts," I heard Mr. Caius say in a pompous tone.

"She's an accomplished diver who has been diving since she was little. She's logged more hours than the average diver, and she knows what to do and what not to do," Dad argued.

"She's not going," Caius said, again.

"My dive, my call," Carlisle said, speaking up. "If Bella wants to go, she can. We need all the help we can get. Not only do I trust Charlie when he tells me that Bella knows what she's doing, but, she's also proven herself over on this trip as well.

Damn straight! I knew what I was doing. I'd probably logged more diving hours than that asshat who was trying to tell me I couldn't dive.

"Why doesn't he want me to go?" I whispered to Edward. He shrugged a shoulder but told me he found it strange and a bit suspicious.

"Yeah, me too. What does your mom think of him?" I asked because I'd barely seen Esme since Caius had boarded the boat.

"She hates him," he replied. "Which is why she's staying out of the way."

I didn't blame her, but I felt bad for her. Esme seemed to be spending most of her time below deck, and that didn't seem fair. The views from the deck were gorgeous, the weather was perfect, and I hated she felt she had to hide out in order to be comfortable.

"She shouldn't have to hide away," I muttered.

"I think she's limiting her time around him because she'll hit him otherwise," Edward said with a snicker, and I looked at him with disbelief.

"Oh, yeah," he said with a nod. "My mom's got one hell of a right hook. You do not fuck with Esme Cullen."

Wow. I couldn't picture Esme, who was always dressed to perfection, being capable of messing someone up. Just went to show that you shouldn't judge a book by its cover.

Just then, my dad called for me, and Edward nudged me toward them.

"Mom and I will be monitoring everything on the communication units and on the video screen," he said, and I felt better knowing that they had my back. I hadn't been this nervous about going on a dive since I'd first started, but having to dive with Mr. Caius and knowing he was going to be most likely scrutinizing everything I did, had me unnerved.

"Thanks," I said, and he nodded. It seemed that things between Edward and I had changed since his abrupt behavior the night of the storm. We'd been awkward around each other for the past couple of days, but now, it seemed as if we were united in our distrust of Marcus Caius.

As soon as I reached Dad, I gave his hand a squeeze and told him thanks for standing up for me, but Dad just shook his head as he told me no thanks was needed. Carlisle said the same thing.

I looked over all the gear, doing checks on the air tanks and making sure everything was good to go. I heard Caius say that he'd already checked them, but I wasn't about to take the word of some stranger, especially one I didn't trust.

With a thumbs up to Dad and Carlisle, I began to put on my gear and had Dad it once more.

"All set. Let's go," Carlisle said on the communicator, and one by one, we all flipped into the water and began our descent to the ocean floor.

Once we were near the ocean floor, Carlisle directed each of us to fan out and look for any markers that a ship may have been in the area. It was the same thing we'd been doing for days, and once again, we came back without any evidence.

It went like that for two more weeks. Caius would be on his boat, he'd direct us to a new area, and we'd anchor and search. Rinse and repeat. That's how it went. Carlisle was becoming increasingly frustrated with Caius, and I wished he'd just send the man on his way.

* * *

 **a/n: Thanks for reading! Feel free to leave a review! Next week's chapter will probably post on Saturday since I'll be on a plane to Vegas on Sunday.**


	3. Chapter 3

**A/N: Thanks for reading and reviewing the last chapter! I love hearing from you all. I'm off to Vegas tomorrow, so you're getting this chapter a little bit early. There's some action (sadly, not of the lemon variety) in this chapter.**

 **As always, a huge thanks to Heather for helping a girl who hates commas and over uses the word 'that.'**

* * *

"I've got something!" Dad shouted over the communication unit several days later, and I swam as fast as I could to where he was.

Dad was gently brushing sand away from what looked like something round, and he gently picked one of the items up.

"No way!" I exclaimed as Dad gave me a thumbs up.

"Lead shots," Dad said, and I grinned. We were definitely on the right track it seemed, so we all spread out to look around some more.

I was brushing sand away from just about every spot I searched to see if I could find anything else, but I kept coming up empty, that is, until my hands gently ran over something that felt like metal.

Brushing the sand away, I grinned like a loon when I saw a metal, most likely brass, needle staring up at me. I took my camera out and snapped some pictures before telling my dad that I'd found something as well.

Before the day was over, we brought up one needle, six lead shots, and a handful of iron nails. According to Dad, they all looked to be from the 18th century, further proving we were in the right place.

Needless to say, we were all on a high except for Caius. He didn't seem all that excited or surprised that we'd found some artifacts, and that made me suspicious. I mean, if you were searching for a shipwreck that had haunted your dreams and you had spent years looking for it, wouldn't you be more excited that you were possibly on the right track?

"This is pretty exciting, huh?" I said to Mr. Caius, and he barely looked at me.

"Sure, kid. I'm thrilled," he muttered dryly.

"I can tell. I thought you wanted to find the _Sirène_?"

"I do."

I rolled my eyes and left him to study the map he was staring at before making my way over to my dad to see how he was doing along with cleaning up the items we'd found.

"How goes it, Dad?" I asked him after seeing a slight frown on his face as he looked over one of the lead shots in his hand.

"Hmm? Oh, it goes, Bells," he said, but his voice was off, and he looked puzzled as he studied the artifact before writing something down in the notebook that he kept.

I decided to leave him to it, telling him goodnight and stopping by the galley to grab a snack to eat in my room before bed.

I was exhausted, and after consuming some peanut butter crackers, I crashed, only to be woken up by shouts of panic a little while later.

Stumbling out of my bed, I raced up the stairs in my pajamas and bare feet to find everyone gathered around someone on the deck. It took a moment for my mind to realize it was my dad lying on his back while Carlisle performed CPR.

"What's going on!?" I cried out, panicked, and Edward grabbed me as I rushed toward my dad.

"C'mon, Charlie!" I heard Carlisle roar as he continued to press down on my dad's chest while Esme took over mouth-to-mouth resuscitation.

My heart dropped, and I fell to my knees, confused and scared, not understanding what was happening nor how it had happened.

"Dad," I whimpered as Edward kept a hold of me, and I clung to him with a fierce grip as I watched Carlisle. He kept doing compressions, but a few moments later, Esme laid a hand on his arm.

"He's gone, Carlisle," I heard Esme say, and a sob ripped out of me as tears poured down my face.

"Fuck!" Carlisle screamed as he rounded on the other man who was standing there, watching.

"What the fuck happened, Marcus?" he demanded to know as he grabbed Marcus and shoved him hard into the railing.

"I don't fucking know, Carlisle!" Caius yelled back. "He wanted to go for a night dive to see if we could find anything else, and I agreed to go with him. We spread out, and I lost sight of him."

"Bullshit! That's such bullshit!" I cried out, getting to my feet with Edward's help. "Dad never dove at night without a light and a couple of glow sticks. Never! He also wouldn't have gone so far that you couldn't see him!"

Esme rushed to my side and wrapped her arms around me, but I was fighting both her and Edward because I knew in my gut that Caius had killed my dad. I knew it, and he was going to fucking pay!

"Well, he did," Caius replied in a calm voice that infuriated me. "By the time I got to him, his tank had run out of air and he was just floating there."

I didn't buy it for a second, and judging by the look on Carlisle's face, he wasn't buying it either.

"Oh, my God, Marcus! You killed him, didn't you?" he asked, horror on his face, and Marcus shook his head.

"I did no such thing, and I won't stand here and listen to these accusations," he declared, shoving Carlisle out of the way and going toward the starboard side where his boat was rafted up next to ours.

Edward let go of me and rushed toward Caius, tackling him and held him down until Carlisle made his way over to them.

"Get the fuck off of me!" Caius snarled, but Edward held on, struggling with Caius while Carlisle went to get some rope.

"Bella, sweetheart? I have to call the coast guard, okay?" Esme said, and I nodded numbly, unable to break my gaze away from my father.

Gently, Esme let go of me, and I rushed over to my dad's side, my body trembling as I stared into his open, unmoving eyes. It had to be a nightmare. That was all. I was having a nightmare, and any minute from now, I was going to wake up.

I could hear the sounds of a struggle going on behind me, but I couldn't look away from my dad, and then I heard a loud bang that sounded like a car backfiring.

I jumped at the noise, and when I turned around, Edward was on the ground, holding onto his side as blood spilled onto his fingers.

"What was that?" Carlisle asked as he came around the corner, freezing when he saw the gun in Caius's hands.

"It wasn't supposed to happen like this," Caius said, waving the gun around, and I flinched as he aimed it at Carlisle.

"What are you talking about?" Carlisle asked, trying to remain calm, but I could see the panic in his eyes as he looked down at his son.

"He figured it out!" Caius shouted, his eyes wild and unfocused. "Charlie figured it out, and I couldn't let him expose me. If he did, I would lose everything. Everything!"

Carlisle took a step forward, and another shot rang out through the air.

"Don't, Carlisle! Don't. I'm leaving, and if you try and stop me, I'll kill every single one of you," Caius warned as he backed up, his gun still aimed at Carlisle, and he climbed over the bow rail and onto his boat. I just stayed where I was, not knowing what to do.

"Esme!" Carlisle hollered as Caius untied his boat from ours. Caius rushed inside to the control room to start the engine.

"Coast guard is on their way," she said, gasping when she saw Edward.

I wasn't sure what to do nor was I sure if I could do anything as shock had definitely set in. I watched as the two of them did what they could to stop the blood pouring from Edward's abdomen.

* * *

The following days passed by in a blur, and I was still numb. The coast guard had come about thirty minutes after Caius had escaped and airlifted Edward to the nearest hospital. There had been police waiting for us on shore, statements had been given, and a search for Caius had been put into effect.

My dad had been cremated, his ashes being spread over the ocean per his wishes, and my mother was coming to take me home with her.

"Bella?" Carlisle asked, and I refused to meet his gaze. I was mad at him. If he had never come to visit us, asking my dad to go along on this trip, then my dad would still be alive.

He called my name again, but I continued to ignore him. I couldn't speak to him right then because I knew I would say horrible, mean things to him.

"Honey, let me talk to her," I heard Esme say, and I let out a sigh when Carlisle left the room.

"It's okay to be mad at him," she said softly as she sat down beside me on the couch I was sitting on.

"If he hadn't visited, Dad would still be alive," I muttered, my voice bitter and harsh.

"Oh, sweetheart," she said, wrapping an arm around me, and that's all it took for the tears to begin once more.

I felt like I'd been crying for years, and I didn't know how I still had any tears left.

As I cried, she told me Edward was doing fine, but he was going to have a scar to show off to the girls. Then she informed me that my mother would be arriving in the morning to take me back to Phoenix.

"I don't want to go to Phoenix," I told her in a tired voice. "There's no ocean there."

"I know, but you have to go."

And I did. Two days later, I was staring at the front door of my mother's house. She was chattering non-stop about something or other, but I wasn't listening. I didn't want this to be my home. I wanted to go back to Florida, to my house and my bedroom. I wanted to be able to look out my back door and see the water.

"That Cullen woman said she'd pack up your stuff and send it, so you should have some of your stuff within a week or two," Mom said as she unlocked the door.

"Her name's Esme," I replied in a harsh voice because Mom had been rude to Esme from the get go.

"Whatever," Mom said with the wave of her hand. "Why don't you go get settled in, and then we can have dinner with Phil."

"Fantastic," I muttered because I wanted to spend my first night here with my mother's new, younger boyfriend.

* * *

I spent the next two years in Phoenix, hating it most of the time. I'd gone through a rough transition period and had gotten in with a bad crowd at first. Eventually, I straightened out, and I'd made a couple of friends, had a boyfriend, and had gotten good grades, but I couldn't wait to get out and leave my mother and Phil behind.

I'd slowly letting go of my anger at Carlisle and directing it toward the person who rightly deserved it, Marcus Caius. He still hadn't been caught, but there were warrants out for his arrest, and I hoped like hell he'd gotten eaten by a shark or died a slow, painful death.

"University of West Florida?" Mother asked a few days later as we sat down for dinner, and I stared her down as I nodded my head.

"Yes, they have an excellent maritime archeology program," I told her, and she huffed a little.

"I thought you were over that stupid idea of being a marine archeologist. It didn't turn out so well for your father, now did it?" she asked, and I gaped at her.

"What? It's the truth. Your dad was always running off to play treasure hunter. I just knew one day it would get him killed, and I was right."

"Fuck you!" I snarled as I shoved away from the table, grabbed my acceptance letter to UWF, and stomped up the stairs to my room where I slammed the door shut and locked it.

I blinked back the tears that were threatening to fall as I looked over at a picture of my dad and me that had been taken a few days before he was murdered.

He had always supported my dream to follow in his footsteps, and I wasn't going to let anyone stop me from doing just that.

* * *

Two weeks after I graduated from high school, I was packing up my meager belongings and placing the boxes in the bed of the old truck I'd bought with money I'd earned from working at the library.

"I think this is a bad idea, Isabella," Mom said.

"So you've said a million times," I replied, irritation in my tone. We'd had this conversation at least once a week for the past few months, and I was tired of hearing it.

"I'm not changing my mind. This is what I want," I explained, yet again.

"Fine," Mom said, throwing her hands in the air. "Go, but I don't want to get any phone calls or emails from you complaining or begging to come home. You're on your own."

"Works for me," I snarled as I went about tying a tarp over the bed of the truck. It was going to be one hell of a drive over to Pensacola, Florida, twenty-six hours give or take, but I was going to break it up over a couple of days.

With one last look at my mother's house, I shot her a wave before climbing into the truck and backing out of the drive.

It took me two and a half days to make it to Pensacola, and the relief I felt as I crossed into Florida was enormous. I hadn't been back since I'd moved to Arizona, and God, had I missed it.

All too soon, I was pulling into the parking lot of the dorm that I was going to be living in for the year, and I couldn't help the grin that spread across my face. I was finally free.

* * *

 **a/n: Let me know what you thought! I'll see you all next Sunday!**


	4. Chapter 4

**A/N: Wow! You guys blew me away with all the love for the last chapter! Thanks so much for reading/reviewing! Now, this chapter will jump ahead and get us to present day.**

 **Huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her insight and fixing my errors.**

* * *

 **Fifteen Years Later …..**

"Yo, Little B! You gotta see this!" Emmett yelled at me as I walked down the hall past his office, and I rolled my eyes at his exuberance. Emmett was always loud, but when he was excited about something, he cranked up the loudness to ten.

"What, Em?"

"Check this out!" he said, a huge grin on his face as he showed me his latest project.

Emmett McCarty and I both worked for the Poseidon Marine Exploration Group. It was an organization comprised of archeologists, biologists, professional divers, historians, and more scientists than I could count. Our objective was to find and salvage deep-water shipwrecks as well as to educate people through various workshops and programs that we held. There were ten teams within the group, each with seven to ten people, and we all worked on different projects across the U.S.

I'd only been with the group for a little over a year, but I loved what I did. I'd just finished my Ph.D. in Maritime Archeology, so when Poseidon had offered me a job, I'd grabbed ahold of it.

"What is it?" I asked Emmett as I looked at the strange robot like thing in front of me.

"My very own underwater drone," he said, his voice ringing with excitement. Emmett was one of the best robotic engineers in the field, and he'd left a highly lucrative job with NASA to come work for Poseidon. I'd never asked why, but I was insanely curious as to why anyone leave NASA to come work here.

"Oh, that's cool," I said as I took a closer look at the device.

"Yeah, it is. It can go up to four knots, although I think I can make it faster, it's got twelve LED lights, and —" I tuned out the rest of what he was saying because it was all robot speak, and it just confused the hell out of me.

He rambled on for a few more minutes before realizing that I was lost.

"Yeah, my bad. I love my robots!" he said with that big grin of his.

"I know you do," I said with an answering grin. "I have to head out though. I've got a meeting with Jasper in ten minutes about some new project."

"It had better not be digging up yet another wrecked riverboat," Emmett mumbled, and I let out a snicker.

Eight months ago, Jasper, who was the head of our team, had gotten it in his head to uncover Civil War riverboats that had been sunk. It hadn't been awful, but it hadn't been that exciting either.

Fifteen minutes later, I was sitting in Jasper's office as he finished up a phone call.

"Bella, what do you know about the _Sirène_?" he asked as he turned around to face me, and I went pale as I stared at him, but he was busy typing something on his computer so he didn't notice.

"Bella? Dr. Swan?" he asked again, and I shook my head to clear it.

"The _Sirène_ was an eighteenth century French ship that was returning to France after delivering some goods in what is now known as the British Virgin Islands. The ship never made it back to France, and it's assumed that it sank during a violent storm," I told him, trying to keep my voice steady.

"And the Treasured Heart?"

"A heart-shaped brooch encrusted in rubies, diamonds, and emeralds. It's rumored to have been a gift for King Louis XV's wife, Marie Leszcyznska. Supposedly, it would be worth millions today."

"The Poseidon group has been hired by the French government to find the shipwreck," Jasper said, turning around to face me, and I stared back at him, horror sweeping over me.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and I shook my head, trying to calm myself and gather my thoughts.

"Nothing," I said, but Jasper wasn't buying it. The man could see through bullshit like no one I'd ever met.

"Bullshit. You look like you've seen a ghost. Talk to me, Bella," he said, his voice warm and inviting, yet serious.

The only person on the team that knew about how my dad died was my good friend, Rose. No one else knew, or if they did, it was never mentioned around me, and I preferred to keep my personal life just that, personal.

"Fifteen years ago, my dad and a friend of his went looking for the _Sirène_ ," I told Jasper, standing up and walking toward the window. "I'd begged my dad to let me go, and he did. In the end, there were five of us that went looking for the shipwreck."

I gazed down at the city below me before I spoke again.

"A week or so into our trip, a former friend of my dad's showed up. Marcus Caius," I spat out. My hatred for that man had never died, and it never would.

"He told us that he had an idea where the shipwreck was, and we followed him. God, I'm not even sure why we allowed that man to help us, but we found some lead shots and iron nails that were from the right time period, but something about it didn't sit right with my dad," I said, turning to look at Jasper.

"He didn't tell me or Carlisle, the man we'd gone with, but it was enough for him to want to get another look and go back on a night dive."

I paused, blinking back the tears that were threatening to fall. Even all these years later, my father's death still felt fresh and raw.

"I'd gone to bed but was woken up by a commotion on the deck. I ran up there to find my father dead, lying on the deck. Caius killed him. He'd cut my dad's regulator hose and watched my father drown before hauling him back to the boat."

Jasper opened up his mouth to say something, but I shook my head. I wasn't done.

"Caius admitted that he'd killed my father, and then he shot Carlisle's son, claiming that he'd kill us all if we didn't let him go. He got away. He killed my dad and got away with it, all because he wanted to find the Treasured Heart."

There was silence from Jasper once I was done, and I looked over at him, and sadness was etched across his face.

"I'm so sorry, Bella," he said in that calming voice of his. "I truly am."

He paused for a moment before telling me that if I didn't want to go on this expedition, he more than understood.

"Honestly, I need to think about it," I told him because I wasn't so sure I wanted to go down that road again. The Treasured Heart had cost me my father, and God only knew what it might cost me this time around.

* * *

"So, are you going or not?" my boyfriend, Jamesm asked me, and I shot him a nasty look. He was in a foul mood, acting like a complete ass, which was becoming the norm with him. I was getting real sick of it.

"I haven't decided," I told him, and he let out a huff.

"Just go. I mean, what's the big fucking deal? Your dad died like twenty years ago. Get over it already," he commented as he went back to watching the TV, and I narrowed my eyes at him.

"Fuck you, James! Fuck you! Get your ass off my couch, and get the fuck out. Better yet, don't come back. Consider us over."

"Whatever," he muttered as he stood up and grabbed his keys off the coffee table. "I've got someone else anyway."

"Good luck to her then. She's gonna need it to put up with your ass. I sure did," I replied before snatching his key ring out of his hand and removing the key to my apartment.

I tossed them back at him, and once he was gone, I shut the door and locked it before collapsing on the couch.

 _Broke up with James_ , I texted my friend and fellow co-worker, Rose, who had hated James since she'd first met him.

 _About fucking time_. _What did he do?_

 _Told me to get over my dad's death,_ I responded, and seconds later, my phone rang.

"God, he's a fucking dick. What the hell did you ever see in him?" she asked me.

"I don't know," I said with a heavy sigh. "I don't fucking know."

"What's wrong?" she asked. "I know you're not _that_ upset about James, but something got you upset."

I told her all about my meeting with Jasper and how Poseidon had been hired to find the _Sirène_.

"I don't think I can go. Too many memories," I told her.

"I think you need to go," she said, and I gaped at her. "No, listen. This could be a good way to get closure. Your dad wanted to find that ship and its' treasures, and what better way to honor your dad than to do just that? Go find it."

We talked for another hour, and when we hung up, I was left feeling a bit better. Rose was right in a way. I hadn't let my father's murder stop me from fulfilling my dream of being a maritime archeologist, so I shouldn't let his death stop me from fulfilling his dream.

Before going to bed, I opened up my phone and sent a quick email to Esme Cullen, asking her how she was doing and wondering if Carlisle still had any information about the _Sirène_. I wasn't sure if he'd kept anything that he'd gathered, and we never really talked about what happened on that trip.

Not too long after I crawled into bed, my phone pinged, and I saw Esme had responded to me.

 _My sweet Bella,_

 _It's been far too long since we've talked. I'm glad to hear that you're doing well and that you've found a job you love. I'm so proud that you followed your dreams and got that Ph.D._

 _I've been doing well, thank you for asking. I've opened up my own flower shop, and I love it! It's so much fun!_

 _Now, on to the reason you emailed. Carlisle hasn't spoken much of the Sirène since Charlie's death. Losing Charlie and almost losing Edward changed him. As you know, he gave up diving and treasure hunting after that._

 _I'll ask him if he has any files regarding the shipwreck, but I wouldn't be surprised if he got rid of everything having to do with it._

 _Keep in touch, Bella! We miss you._

 _Lots of love,_

 _Esme_

As I read her email, I felt horrible. I'd kept in touch, but I had never really thought about how hard my dad's death must have been on Carlisle. The two of them had been best friends for over twenty years, and I couldn't imagine losing my best friend. To be honest, I hadn't given Edward much thought over the past fifteen years either.

Quickly, I wrote Esme back and told her not to bother Carlisle. I could just as easily dig up some information on the internet, and I didn't want to get Carlisle upset. He'd obviously dealt with a lot after Charlie's death and had even given up his hobby of treasure hunting.

Less than five minutes later, I got another email from Esme, and I quickly opened it.

 _Don't be silly, Bella. I'll talk to Carlisle and let you know what I find out._

I thanked her before shutting my phone off and attempting to get some sleep.

My dreams were rough that night, and I woke up a little after four in a cold sweat and gasping for air, tangled in my sheets. I clawed my way out of my bed and made my way to the bathroom where I splashed cold water on my face and tried to catch my breath.

As I braced my hands on the counter, I stared at myself in the mirror. I could almost see the terrified teenager that I once was, staring back at me.

Knowing that I wasn't going to get anymore sleep, I decided to take a shower and get the rest of my day started.

Two hours later, I was driving toward the Poseidon building which was located in Miami Beach about twenty-five minutes away from my apartment. Traffic was fairly heavy for six o'clock on a Saturday morning, so it took me a little longer than normal to get to the office.

Once there, I entered the security code to gain access to the building and then swiped my ID badge once I was inside, making small talk with Joe, the night shift guard.

"You're here early, Dr. Swan," he said as he handed me back my badge.

"I couldn't sleep," I told him.

"Well, you're not alone. Dr. Whitlock is here as well."

I waved at him as I made my way toward the stairs and climbed the three flights to my floor, which was one of the three floors rented out by Poseidon. I swiped my ID badge once more and opened the door to our floor before making my way down the hall to my office.

After unlocking the door, I set up my laptop on my desk, leaving the door open, before making my way down the hall to the breakroom that had a small kitchen.

"Morning, Dr. Swan," Dr. Whitlock said, and I snorted at his formality. Jasper had a tendency to address me as doctor, not that I was complaining because I'd worked my ass off for my Ph.D., but I wasn't one for formality.

"Morning, Dr. Whitlock," I greeted as I poured a cup of coffee and took a long sip.

"You look tired," he commented as we left the kitchenette, and I nodded.

"Nightmares," I told him quietly, and he stopped me in the hallway.

"Bella, I'm so sorry," he said, but I shook my head, interrupting him before he could say anything else.

"Don't be. You didn't know my past. This isn't your fault."

He didn't look like he believed me, but he let it go, and I followed him into the conference room where we planned out our expeditions.

There were ocean surface topography maps, regular maps, articles, and drawings of the _Sirène_ on the boards and the long conference table.

"You've been busy since yesterday," I mumbled as I took it all in, picking up a sketch that someone had drawn of the ship.

"You know me, I tend to get a bit obsessive when it comes to planning," he commented dryly, and truer words had never been spoken.

"Morning, guys," a chipper voice said from the doorway, and I turned around to see Jasper's wife, Alice, standing there. She was a tiny little thing, standing at barely five feet, and she was our resident geophysicist

"Morning, Alice," we both replied as she wandered into the room, picking up one of the topography maps.

"I'm thinking about calling everyone in later this afternoon after I finish gathering some more information," Jasper said, and I nodded my head, but I knew he was waiting on an answer from me with regards to whether or not I wanted to go on this expedition.

I'd thought long and hard about it before falling asleep last night as well as on the drive in to the office this morning, and I knew that my dad would want me to go on this expedition.

"I'm in, Jasper," I said quietly, and his head snapped up to look at me.

"Are you sure, Bella?"

I nodded.

"Yeah. I'm seeing if my dad's old friend has any information that might help us, and I'll sit down with you as well and tell you what I know."

"Thanks, Bella," Jasper said, and I nodded before making my way back to my office to finish up some reports from our last trip out at sea.

I was about halfway through my last report when my computer alerted me to an incoming email. I brought up my account and saw that Esme had written me back. Only when I opened it up, I realized it was actually from Carlisle that had written me and not Esme.

The email was a bit stiff and formal in tone, but Carlisle attached the notes he'd taken fifteen years ago and earlier regarding the _Sirène_.

 _Bella,_

 _Attached is the information I have regarding the Sirène. Remember that this information is fifteen years old, so it may not be relevant anymore._

 _I'd implore you not to go on this expedition, but I know that you're an adult and capable of making smart choices. All I ask is that you be careful._

 _Take care,_

 _Carlisle_

I wrote him back, thanking him before uploading all of his notes onto a flash drive after looking them over. I wasn't sure that Carlisle's notes had any different information than Jasper had, but I was willing to hand them over to him so he could have a look.

Once Jasper had looked them over, he'd called everyone in from the team so that we could have a meeting. We always had them about a week or two before we set off on a new trip.

A few hours later, I was telling my story to the team.

"So, that's it," I said, looking around the conference room at the team Jasper had gathered for his expedition.

There was dead silence for a few moments, and I bit my lower lip nervously as I waited for their reactions.

"Jesus, B!" Emmett exclaimed from his seat before turning to look at Jasper. "Are you sure we should be going after this shipwreck? What if it's cursed or something?"

Leave it to Emmett to jump to the supernatural conclusions. The man was obsessed with the supernatural and ghost hunting.

"The ship isn't cursed, Emmett," Jasper said with a sigh before standing up and coming over to me. "What ever happened with this Caius guy?"

"Hopefully, he was eaten by a shark," I growled. "He ran off like the coward that he was, and he's never been found. There are warrants out for his arrest but so far, he's evaded capture."

"Do you think he's still looking for the _Sirène_?"

"If he's not dead, then probably."

"I'll see what I can dig up on him," Rose said from the back of the room where she was leaning against the wall. Rose was a computer genius who Emmett was crushing on hard. What he didn't know was that she liked him just as much. The only reason I knew that was because she had admitted it one night after a few too many glasses of wine.

"Thanks, Rose," Jasper said, and she nodded her head.

I barely listened as Jasper went over the specifics of the shipwreck and the information we had.

"Okay, so the last known whereabouts of the _Sirène_ were, as Bella stated, the British Virgin Islands, but we've learned the storm that sank the ship may have actually blown it off course."

"Really?" I asked, and he nodded.

"We believe that the storm blew them southwest, closer to Dominica, so that's where we're going to start our search. We leave in a week, so start packing team."

"You okay?" Rose asked as we walked down the hall, and I shrugged.

"I don't know, Rose. I just don't know. Maybe if we'd searched the waters around Dominica, my dad might have lived, or maybe not. I'm pretty sure Caius would have hunted us down regardless, and I have to admit, I'm a bit worried that he's going to show up again."

"Yeah, that thought crossed my mind, too," she admitted just as Emmett walked down the hall toward us.

"Hey, Rose. You got a minute?" he asked, and I grinned as her cheeks turned pink and she stumbled over her words. Rose was the most confident woman I knew, but all it took was a few words from Emmett to turn her into a blushing schoolgirl.

"See you guys later," I said with a wave before going back to my office.

* * *

"Are you ready?" Emmett boomed as Rose and I walked down the pier toward the docks that held the _Brizo_. It was the research vessel that would take us across the ocean to Dominica. Our old research vessel had broken down too many times on our last expedition, and somehow, Jasper had procured the funds for a new ship, so this would be our maiden voyage aboard the _Brizo_.

"I suppose so," I replied as Rose wrinkled her nose a bit. She wasn't much for living on a ship for months at a time.

"Oh, come on, Rosie," Emmett said, slinging an arm around her shoulders. "This is gonna be fun."

She rolled her eyes in my direction before boarding the _Brizo_. I followed behind them, smiling a bit as I stepped onto the deck of the vessel. I always felt at home on the ocean, and I was a bit surprised to find myself getting excited about this trip. I wasn't sure I would feel anything but trepidation regarding the search, but now there was a definite tickling of excitement.

"Welcome aboard," Jasper said, greeting us and showing us toward the state room where he was having everyone meet.

I walked into the room and took a seat at the round table across from Mike, Jessica, Lauren, Jacob, and Eric, five of the other scientist that were joining us. I was one of two marine archeologists on this expedition. The other one was Bree Tanner. She was an older woman in her fifties who was extremely well known in our field of study, and a woman I greatly admired.

Less than ten minutes later, the room was filled with scientists and crew members, and Jasper gave a small whistle to get our attention.

"Listen up, folks! We've got a four day trip ahead of us, and I want us to use that time to make sure we have all the equipment ready so that when we arrive, we can get to straight to work. Now, Captain Robards retired after our last trip, so I'd like to introduce you to our new captain, Edward Cullen."

My jaw dropped open, and the world around me seemed to fade away as I stared at the man I hadn't seen in fifteen years. Why the hell was he here? All I could figure was that Esme and Carlisle must have said something because what were the chances that Edward Freaking Cullen was just going to show up on the same ship as me. Especially when that ship was looking for the _Sirène_.

Edward stared right back at me, confusion on his face that quickly became recognition as Jasper introduced all of us to him.

"I think the new captain has the hots for you," Emmett teased from beside me, and I swung my head to look at him.

"I highly doubt it," I told him with a snort. "He thought I was an annoying kid the last time he saw me."

"Wait, you know him?" Rose whispered.

"He's the one that Caius shot in order to escape after murdering my dad," I explained quietly.

"Holy shit," Emmett muttered, and I nodded my head in agreement. Holy shit, indeed.

* * *

 **a/n: See? I didn't make you wait too long for them to see each other again. As always, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.**


	5. Chapter 5

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing! I'm glad you're enjoying the story! I'm having a great time writing it, as well as doing research (although, creative liberties are taken here and there).**

 **A huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her insight and grammatical awesomeness.**

 **BTW, this chapter is a little longer than the others have been.**

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Jasper was done laying out our course of action, and everyone got up to leave and find the rooms to which they'd been assigned. I stood up as well and was almost to the door when a hand touched my shoulder.

"Can we talk for a moment?" Edward asked, and I nodded my head.

While we waited for everyone to leave the room, I took a good, long look at Edward. Jesus, the man was fucking hot. He'd been cute as a twenty-year-old boy, but as a thirty-five year-old man … Goddamn!

As soon as everyone was gone, Edward shut the door and turned to my face me. I crossed my arms over my chest as I stared at him, and before he could say anything, I blurted out the one thing I'd been thinking since I'd seen him.

"Did your parents put you up to this?"

"What?" he asked, confusion crossing his face.

"I've been emailing with your parents, regarding this expedition, and you just happen to show up as the captain of the ship we're taking. It seems fishy."

"Wait. You've been talking to my parents?" he asked, confusion written across his handsome face.

"Yeah, we talk every so often. Why?" I asked a bit defensively.

"No reason. I just didn't realize that you'd kept in touch all these years," he explained.

"So, you're telling me that you didn't talk to Esme about my wanting Carlisle's notes about the _Sirène_ , and she didn't mention that I was going to be on this ship?"

"No, I haven't talked to my parents in a few months," he told me. "I took this position because it was offered to me and when I found out they were searching for the _Sirène_ , I almost quit. The last time we searched for that damned shipwreck, it didn't end so well for any of us."

He didn't have to tell me that. I was well of aware of the outcomes of the last search for the _Sirène._

"So, why stick around then?"

"I don't know," he said with a sigh as he ran a hand through his messy hair. "Maybe because Jasper was so convincing in his plea for me to stay on, or maybe because part of me wants to find this shipwreck as a fuck you to Marcus Caius. Listen, I have to get this ship going, but why don't we sit down later and talk, okay?

"Yeah, sure," I told him as I followed him through the doorway.

I watched as he walked away, confused and conflicted as to what I was feeling, before grabbing my suitcase and duffle bag I'd brought on board with me and made my way toward my stateroom.

I opened the door and took a quick look around. It was the typical stateroom equipped with a bunkbed, a desk, a dresser, and a small closet. There was a tiny bathroom attached to the room as well.

It looked like Dr. Tanner had already claimed the bottom bunk and put her stuff away, so I set my bags down on the floor and opened them up.

Just as I finished putting my clothes away, there was a knock on the halfway open door, and I looked up and saw Alice and Rose standing there.

"Hey, guys."

"Spill," Alice demanded, and I raised an eyebrow at her. We'd worked together for a couple of years, but it wasn't until about six months ago that we became good friends.

"Don't act like you don't know what I'm talking about. Why did Captain Hottie want to stay and talk to you?"

"Nosey much?" I asked her.

"Always," she said with a grin, and if that wasn't the truth, then I didn't know what was.

"Well, there's nothing to tell," I told them, but Alice wasn't buying that at all. She just gave me a look, and I stared right back at her.

"C'mon, Bella," she whined.

"What are you, ten?" I asked. "Look, it's nothing. He just wanted to say hello. We haven't seen each other in fifteen years. That's it."

"Uh huh," both women said, and I rolled my eyes at them.

"Let it go, ladies."

"Fine," Alice said. "I'll let it go. For now."

Once Rose and Alice left, I closed the door to my room and climbed on to the top bunk where I flopped onto my back and stared at the ceiling.

I must have dozed off because I was awoken when the door opened. I was a bit disoriented when Dr. Tanner walked in, apologizing for waking me.

"Oh, it's fine. I probably shouldn't be napping anyway," I told her.

Once I was more awake, Dr. Tanner and I walked up to the deck and found a couple of chairs near the railing. We sat down and began discussing our plan of action should we happen to locate the shipwreck.

"Will you be going down on the first dive?" I asked her, and she nodded her head.

"Probably the first few," she said. "After that, I'll leave most of the diving to you."

A few years back, Dr. Tanner had a horrible diving experience that left her in the hospital, and since then, she was a bit gun shy when it came to diving. Now, she mainly stuck to going over the archeological finds on the ship instead of underwater, and that was fine since we had other divers onboard.

"Works for me. Would you like to photograph or video the survey area?" I asked her, and she told me she'd prefer to photograph the site.

A couple of hours later, after we'd had lunch, I found myself walking toward the helm where Edward was piloting the ship.

I knocked on the door, opening it when Edward called out for me to enter.

"Whoa," I mumbled as I stepped inside and closed the door behind me. It wasn't that I'd never been on a ship's helm before, but this one was far more technologically advanced than the others I'd seen. It was like being on the bridge of the Star Trek Enterprise. There were so many monitors, phones, and buttons. Like lots and lots of buttons.

"Do you ever just want to push all the buttons at once?" I asked him, and he let out a chuckle that made me feel all kinds of things I wasn't expecting to feel in regards to Edward.

"It is tempting," he said, spinning around his captain's chair to face me. "Why don't you have a seat, and we'll talk."

I sat down in the co-captain's seat and looked at him.

"I have so many questions," I admitted. "How did you go from studying pre-law at Dartmouth to captaining a research vessel?"

"Everything changed that summer, Bella," he said, shoving a hand through his hair, and I nodded my head in agreement.

"I spent a week in the hospital, and after I was released, I was so angry at my parents, mainly my dad. I blamed him for Charlie's death and for my being shot. I hated him, Bella. I fucking hated him. I felt that he'd ruined all of our lives."

I could relate to his words because I'd hated Carlisle for quite a while after that disastrous summer, too.

He paused a moment as he stared blankly out the window in front of him.

"My parents sold their house in Pensacola and moved us across the country to some tiny ass town in Washington State called Forks. Dad was worried that Caius might come after him, and my parents' marriage was strained for months after your dad's death. As soon as September rolled around, I raced back to Dartmouth, but I couldn't focus on school. I had nightmares, and I started drinking all the time," he told me.

"I know that feeling," I admitted. "I became a party girl for all of six months before doing a one-eighty and burying myself in my studies."

"Sadly, I didn't do that. I kept drinking, failed out of school, and moved to Mexico. Eventually, I sobered my ass up, and I got a job chartering boats for tourists. I did that for about ten years before coming back to the states. Since I've been back, I've been captaining various research vessels."

As I listened to him speak, it was hard to reconcile the man in front of me with the standoffish boy I'd met all those years ago. Fifteen years ago, he would barely speak to me much less tell me his life story.

"So how did you find out about this position?" I asked because I couldn't imagine that Jasper put out an ad on Craigslist, looking for a captain.

"I'm friends with Cary Robards, the former captain, and he put me in touch with Dr. Whitlock. Although, I was a bit hesitant when I found out he was going after the _Sirène_."

"Yeah, I hear that," I muttered. "I wasn't sure I wanted to go on this expedition either. It brought up memories that I'd tried to put me behind me, but after talking with some friends, I realized that my dad would want me to help find it. Your dad, on the other hand, didn't seem too thrilled with the idea."

Edward let out a snort.

"That doesn't surprise me. After Charlie's death, Dad gave up his search for the _Sirène_. He said it wasn't worth losing anyone else over. It was the one thing we actually agreed upon."

I was about to say something else, but there was a knock on the door interrupting us.

"Sorry to interrupt," Jasper said, and Edward waved off his apology.

"Come on in," Edward said.

"I just wanted to check on our progress," Jasper said.

"We're moving at ten and a half knots, so we should arrive in four days. Weather looks clear as well, so barring any unforseen problems, we are right on schedule."

"Excellent. Well, I'll leave you guys to it," he said, making his way back out the door.

After Jasper left, I got up from my chair and told him that I'd let him get back to work.

"Come visit any time," he said, and I nodded my thanks, thinking I just might take him up on that offer.

It was nice to see that he'd matured as he'd gotten older. My recent ex-boyfriend, James, had apparently not done.

With a wave at Edward, I made my way out onto the starboard deck, and took a deep breath, inhaling the ocean air.

As we sped across the open water, I leaned against the railing and took it all in. There was nothing like the feel of the wind in your hair.

* * *

"Dropping anchor in ten miles," Edward said over the intercom system, and a wave of excitement rippled amongst the team.

Emmett's underwater drone was ready to go as soon as we stopped, and if it found anything that looked remotely like a shipwreck, then we had eight divers ready to jump in.

All of the diving gear was being checked and re-checked, and I noticed that the closer we had gotten to our destination, the more nervous I had become. I wasn't nervous about the dive itself. It was more that I was nervous about what we would find or what we wouldn't find

If we did find proof that the _Sirène_ was here, it was going to keep us busy for months. Not that I would complain about it. If we didn't find the _Sirène,_ then it was back to the drawing board and onto our next expedition. Most of these expeditions were funded by private backers, or they were contracted to us by governments, museums, or private persons, but there was always another expedition around the corner.

"Dropping anchor," Edward's voice said a little while later, and there was a flurry of activity onboard the ship.

"Seadrone is in the water," Emmett said over the intercom systems, and I raced below deck toward Research Room One. There were four large screens and more computers and monitors than NASA. Maybe not, but it felt like that.

"Projecting on screen two," Emmett reported, and a bunch of us crammed into the room to watch the monitor as Emmett maneuvered his drone around the sea floor.

While he was doing that, Alice was monitoring the seafloor for patterns on another monitor as well as looking at several maps of the ocean floor.

"We got something!" Emmett hollered, and I watched as he zoomed the camera in closer to some debris.

The images came into focus on the screen, and there were several long objects covered under sand. They could have been pieces of wood or even cannons, but the only way to find out was to get in there and bring them to the surface. Once they were brought up, we could determine if they were from the right time period.

Dr. Tanner grabbed a laminated underwater map that we had brought, and the two of us began to draw grids on it. With each grid, we wrote a brief description of what the drone was seeing in each section. It was a fairly crude map at the moment, and it would remain that way until we could get in the water, that wouldn't be until tomorrow.

Four hours later, I stood up from the table I'd been sitting at where I'd been working with Dr. Tanner and stretched my arms and legs. My stomach let out a large rumble, and my face flushed as several people near me glanced my way.

"I'm gonna take a dinner break," I told Dr. Tanner.

"I think I'm going to take a break as well. How about we pick back up in an hour and a half?" she suggested, and I nodded my head.

I made my way to the galley where I grabbed a plate of spaghetti and sat down at one of the four tables that were housed in the galley.

I was busy shoving food into my mouth when Edward pulled out a chair opposite of mine.

"May I?" he asked, and I nodded as I wiped my mouth with a napkin.

"So, Jasper seems confident we're in the right spot," he said with a mouthful of food.

"I know you weren't raised by wolves, Edward," I said, and he let out a laugh.

"My bad."

"And yeah, Jasper does seem to think this is the spot. I'm not nearly as confident as him, but I'll wait until we've brought up some artifacts and tested them. I don't want to get my hopes up and then have them dashed."

"I hear that. I personally think this is just another wild goose chase, but I hope for the sake of the company that it isn't," he said.

"Time will tell," I replied.

After we were both done eating, I still had plenty of time to kill before getting back to work, so I decided to go for a stroll on the upper deck, and Edward asked if he could accompany me. I found that I couldn't say no to him.

As we walked around, I found myself telling him about my life after that summer, and I was almost startled to find myself doing so, because I tended to be closed off a bit, but I found myself opening up to Edward right away. Maybe it was because we'd survived a horrific ordeal together.

"As you know, I went to live with my mom in Phoenix after Dad died and that was rough. I usually only saw her for a couple of months out of the year, so to suddenly be living with her full time was difficult. Hell, she's a difficult person in general. She's flighty and selfish and acts like a teenager half the time. I left for the University of West Florida as soon as I graduated."

"And look at you now. You got that maritime archeology degree just like you said you would," Edward said with a proud smile

"My mother was furious that I wanted to be a maritime archeologist. She told me she knew that treasure hunting would kill Charlie and that I'd probably suffer the same fate. I haven't spoken much to her since I moved out."

As a matter of fact, the last time that I'd seen Renee had been a little over three years ago. She'd called me out of the blue to let me know that she and Phil had moved to Jacksonville and that she wanted to visit.

It had not gone well. My mother had berated me the whole time, going on and on about how I was wasting my life away and that I was going to end up dead just like my father.

I'd told her to get out, telling her not to bother calling or visiting. I washed my hands of her after that.

"Anyway, I threw myself into my studies and busted my ass to get my Ph.D."

"How did you come to work for this lot?" he asked me.

"They found me. I got my doctorate a little over a year ago and had looked into other exploration companies but none of them had any openings. I'd been working as an adjunct in the archeology department while getting my Ph.D., so I figured I'd just keep teaching, and then the Poseidon Group contacted me."

"And you like it with Poseidon?"

"I love it. I've never stopped diving, freelancing on tons of diving expeditions over the years, while I was in school. On some dives, I'd even worked with several members of Poseidon. What about you? I assume you enjoy being a captain?"

He nodded his head.

"I do now. At first, it was just a job. One I needed to keep food in my belly and a roof, albeit a leaky one, over my head. In the beginning, I fucking hated it. I hated being on a boat, and I hated taking asshole tourists out so they could fish. I hated giving guided boat tours to tourists. Hell, I just fucking hated tourists. I kinda still do."

I let out a snort at that. I couldn't see Edward giving tour guides. He'd been standoffish when I'd met him all those years ago, so I couldn't even picture him trying to be pleasant to tourists.

"Yeah, you weren't much of a people person back then. Well, at least not to me."

He let out a chuckle at my words.

"You scared the shit out of me, Bella."

I stopped in my tracks and stared at him.

"What? Why?"

"Because at sixteen, you seemed to have your whole life together where at twenty, I had no fucking clue. You knew exactly what you wanted to do, and you were determined to do it. I envied you, and that pissed me off."

"So, that's why you were an asshole?"

He grinned at me as he nodded his head.

"Well, hopefully you don't resort back to your assholeish ways on this trip," I teased, and he let out a laugh and said that he would make no promises.

"Although, I have matured over the past fifteen years. It took some time as well as a good kick in the ass, but I did."

We chatted for a few more minutes before the timer I'd set on my phone went off, alerting me that it was time to get back to work.

"It's been good talking to you," I told him, and he said the same.

"We're going to be on this boat for a month, maybe longer, so I'm sure we'll talk even more, but, Bella, it's been really good seeing you again, and I'm glad that you're doing what you always wanted."

I gave him a quick wave before going back to the research room, but as I walked, all I could think about was Edward and how it seemed that my attraction to him had come back tenfold. If I'd thought he was good looking before, it was nothing compared to now. Thirty-five looked good on him. He had some scruff going on, and I'd noticed the way his shoulders had filled out, and holy hell, the man had sexy forearms. I really needed to stop thinking about him.

We were here to work and find a shipwreck. Now was not the time or place to start anything romantic. Well, at least not for me.

As I walked past the room where Emmett was storing his underwater drones, I caught a glimpse of Rose flirting with him as he sat in a chair, tinkering with one of his drones. He had a huge grin on his face as he shot her a wink, and I chuckled at the two of them. They were two peas in a pod, united by their geekiness, yet neither one of them looked the stereotypical part.

Rose was a tall, leggy blonde with the face and body of a model, but she was wicked good when it came to computers. Emmett looked like the all-American guy. Dark curly hair, bright blue eyes, and a linebacker's body. He'd played football in high school and college and could have gone pro had he wanted. He'd chosen to focus on robotic engineering instead of the NFL, something that he'd told me he'd never regretted. He loved his job, and it showed.

I gave Emmett a thumbs-up when he caught my eye, and he answered with a huge dimpled grin. I knew it wouldn't take long for Rose to return the flirting that Emmett was always doing.

I turned the corner and almost ran over Alice who had her face buried in a tablet. She looked up at me long enough to give me a smirk, and I raised an eyebrow at her.

"Bell and Edward, sitting in a tr—"

"Shut it, pixie," I told her before rushing down the hallway and into Research Room One where Dr. Tanner had picked up where we had left off.

"Everything okay?" she asked me, and I nodded my head.

"Alice is picking on me, but that's nothing new," I told her, and she let out a small laugh.

"I love that girl to death, but sometimes, she is too much," Dr. Tanner said with a smile as she told me about some antics that Alice had gotten up to over the years that she had known her. Dr. Tanner was good friends with Alice's parents, so she'd known Alice most of her life.

"When she drinks, she thinks she's psychic, and she'll make all kinds of predictions. She's always wrong, so we love to give her shit about it."

While Dr. Tanner and I had worked together before, I'd never really gotten to know her, and it was nice to do so now as we talked while working. She was incredibly intelligent as well as funny, and she was damn fucking good at her job.

"I think we should call it a night," she told me several hours later, and I agreed. We were going to start diving as soon as the sun came up, and I wanted to get a good night's sleep so that I was well rested for the dive.

After a quick snack and an even quicker shower, I crawled into the top bunk after making sure the alarm was set for five a.m.

* * *

"Recording has started," I informed everyone over the dive suit communication unit as a small group of us made our way toward the first grid that Dr. Tanner and I had drawn out. All of the grids were two by two meters or roughly six by six foot squares, and once we cleared a grid, we'd report back to the ship where someone would cross it off on the map we'd drawn, and then we'd move on to the next grid.

With gentle hand movements, we waved the sand away from what turned out to be a foot long piece of wood.

We spent a couple of hours videotaping and photographing our first five grids. We'd found several pieces of wood as well as some iron nails. We were taking a couple of pieces from each grid back to the vessel to be tested. If it turned out that none of these artifacts were from the time period for which we were searching, then we were most likely wasting our time, and we would need to move on to the next location.

"Looks like you guys found some stuff," Emmett said once we were back on board and removing our dive suits.

"We did, but we'll know more once we've cleaned it all off," I told him, rinsing off my dive suit and leaving it to hang dry.

After a quick rinse using the deck shower, I rushed to dry off and tossed on a sundress before racing down the stairs to the room that was set up for the cleaning and restoration of the artifacts.

Dr. Tanner had several people photographing and cataloging all the crustaceans and barnacles that were covering the wood. Our resident microbiologist along with the two other marine biologists onboard would be able to help us determine how long the wooden planks had been on the sea floor while our mass spectrometer would be used to carbon date the wood.

I jumped into to help, and soon, we had the crustaceans and barnacles off of the first piece of wood which was then rinsed in fresh water so that Dr. Jacob Black could take a sample and carbon date it.

"Thank you, Dr. Swan," he said with an easy smile as he took the piece of wood from me and cut a small sliver.

"You're welcome," I replied, turning back to the work at hand; however, I could feel his eyes on me the whole time.

Jacob Black was new to our team, having only been hired by Poseidon less than six months ago. He was tall, at least six-foot-five, and of Native American heritage. He had an easy-going vibe to him, always smiling and flirting. He was a lot like Emmett which explained why they got along so well.

"It's going to take the mass spec a couple of hours, so we'll know more then. However, I will warn you that carbon dating isn't fool proof. With wood samples, the mass spec can end up a couple of hundred years off, so I would suggest not counting on that being your primary source of dating the wood."

We all nodded that we'd heard him, and now it was up to our micro and marine biologists to determine how long the wood had been in the water. I overheard one of them mentioning they would be skyping with a dendrologist, a person who studies trees, to help them out.

My job was done for the meantime, so I washed off my hands and told Dr. Tanner that I'd meet her back in our research room. I needed to write up a report regarding our findings, and I didn't want to put it off much longer.

"Where are you running off to?" Dr. Black asked as I stepped out into the hallway.

I told him I was going to Jasper's small office to type up my reports. The research room was currently too crowded, and I wanted a quiet space to get these reports written.

"How about you?"

"Nowhere to be at the moment. I can't do much until the mass spec has done its thing. Want some company?"

"Sure," I told him with a shrug. He was a likeable enough guy and one who had no problems, keeping a conversation going. In fact, I wasn't even sure I was needed for the conversation he was having.

"How long do these trips last?" he asked me once we were in Jasper's office and I had my laptop open on the desk.

"It depends, Dr. Black—"

"Please call me Jake," he interrupted, and I nodded my head.

"Okay, Jake. We could be out here for a month or for several months. It all depends on what we find. It could be that we'll find nothing and we'll go back home and wait for the next project. If we do find something and there's artifacts in the water, we could be here until the season changes. It's a bit of a crapshoot."

"So, at the very least, a month?" he asked, and I nodded my head.

"A month onboard a ship with several beautiful women. It could certainly be worse," he said as he leaned his hip against the desk, and I rolled my eyes.

"Too bad all the beautiful women are stuck with cocky fools," I replied dryly, and he let out a laugh.

"Are you single, Bella?"

"That, Dr. Black, is none of your business," I said in a cool tone. Yes, Jacob Black was a good- looking man, but I wasn't even remotely attracted to him. He'd have better luck with one of the interns that were onboard.

"I'm just askin'."

"We're on this ship for at least a month, Dr. Black. Please don't make things awkward. I'm not interested in sleeping with you or dating you."

"I'm pretty sure I can change your mind," he said in a husky voice, and I shoved my chair away from the desk and stood up.

"Please leave," I told him because it seemed that Dr. Black was a sexual harassment case waiting to happen.

"I'll see you later," he said, shooting me a wink and walking out the door.

I shook my head at the man's audacity before getting back to my report.

* * *

 **a/n: I think this is the first time I've written a Jacob that's a jerk, and I'm not sure how I feel about it. Lol. I like Jacob, so this is a bit different for me. Anyway, leave me a review letting me know what you thought. See you all next Sunday!**


	6. Chapter 6

**A/N: As always, thank you all so much for reading/reviewing, and I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the story.**

 **A huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesomeness. Any mistakes found are my own since I've tweaked things a bit.**

* * *

"Guess, it's back to the drawing board," Dr. Tanner said as we gathered up our equipment and stored it for the trip back to Florida.

"Looks like it. For now, anyway. Jasper said that the Nautical Society of France wants us to keep looking, but they understand that we need more information. I think he and Alice are flying to France once we get back to see if there's more information regarding the _Sirène_ over there."

Our search for the shipwreck had been a bust. The carbon dating of the wood had come back as 20th century, and the biologists had determined that the wooden planks had only been in the water for a hundred years or so.

We'd searched a hundred mile radius using sonar and Emmett's underwater drones, but every find had been fruitless. Now, we were heading home to Miami until Jasper had another idea.

"I'll be glad to be home," Dr. T said, and I nodded my head although I loved being out on the open waters.

Once we got back to Miami, I'd finish up the scholarly paper I was writing for a journal and I'd probably guest lecture until our next trip. If I had time, I might even go on some local salvaging trips with some friends of mine who owned a salvaging company.

After Dr. T and I had put away our equipment, I made my way toward the wheelhouse to talk with Edward. I'd kept pretty busy during our three weeks at sea, so Edward and I hadn't gotten to talk as often as I'd have liked.

"What will you do now?" I asked him a few minutes later as I took a seat in the co-captain's chair.

"I'll be heading to the Philippines. A friend of mine needs a captain to run his salvaging vessel out there."

"Wow," I said quietly. I had hoped we'd get to spend some more time together because I found that I really liked the man Edward had become, and I wasn't quite ready to say goodbye to him.

"Yeah, my buddy emailed me a few days ago and asked what I was up to. I told him that I'd be arriving in Miami by the end of the week, and he booked me a flight to Manila for the very next day."

"So, no downtime?"

He shook his head.

"Unfortunately, no. I'd love to go home for a few days, but that'll just have to wait until my job in the Philippines is over."

"Where exactly is home?" I asked him, staring out the windows in front of me. I didn't have a clue where Edward lived now.

"Honolulu," he said with a smile. "Have you ever been there?"

"I've been to Kona a couple of times, but never Honolulu."

"Well, we'll have to fix that. When I get back, you should come for a visit. I'll show you around. You'll love it."

"I'd like that," I told him, and a few minutes later, we'd exchanged numbers and email addresses.

"Keep in touch, Bella. I've enjoyed getting to know you again."

"Same. Oh, if Jasper finds another lead on the _Sirène,_ would you captain the ship again?"

He nodded his head as he told me would.

* * *

Three and a half days later, we'd arrived in port and were deboarding the ship. I waved goodbye to the people that I'd see at the office starting on Monday and gave a few hugs to people that I wouldn't see for a while. Edward was one of those.

We walked toward the parking lot together, and I asked him if I could drop him off somewhere.

"That would be great. I need to get a hotel for the night."

Before I even knew what I was doing, I offered to let him stay at my place.

"I don't want to put you out," he said, and I shook my head.

"You're not putting me out. I wouldn't have suggested it if I thought you were. Come on," I told him as I led him over to long term parking where my red 1957 Chevy truck was parked.

"Does this thing even run?" he asked as he climbed in, and I shot him a dirty look. This was my baby, and I'd spent a ton of money to get her back to her original state.

"You wanna walk, Edward? It's a good fifteen miles to my condo."

He let out a chuckle but kept his mouth shut for the twenty-five minute drive to my place.

After pulling into the parking lot, we got out, and I stopped over at my neighbor's condo to pick up my mail.

"Thanks, Mrs. Cope," I told her as she handed me a huge stack of bills and junk mail.

"You're welcome, honey," she said, eyeing Edward as he stood behind me. "Looks like you found something on that trip."

I let out a laugh and shook my head as I thanked her once more before walking around the corner toward my door and unlocking it.

"It's small," I warned Edward, and it was. Living in Miami was expensive, and while I made decent money, it made no sense for me to spend a ton of it on a place that I only really slept in.

I followed Edward in, locking my door once we were inside, and I gave him a quick tour.

"This is the living room," I told him, and he walked over to the sliding door and looked out. The best part of my condo was the view of the water, and it made my place seem a little bit bigger than it was.

"Kitchen is over there, bathroom is on the left, and my bedroom is right down the hall. Why don't you take the bedroom, and I'll sleep on the couch?" I suggested, and he shook his head as he dropped the two duffle bags that he'd brought with him on the floor by the couch.

"I'm fine with the couch," he said, and I shook my head.

"Edward, take the fucking bed. You're the one that has a twenty-three hour flight in the morning. Besides, you're too tall to sleep comfortably on my couch."

"Fine," he muttered, and for a moment, I was disappointed that he hadn't suggested we both sleep in my bed.

Good lord, I needed to get a grip. Yes, I was attracted to the man, and yes, I was also sexually attracted to him, but I wasn't going to jump into bed with him just because. Besides, I didn't even know if he had a wife or a girlfriend, or a boyfriend for that matter.

"I figured we'd order dinner in unless you want to go out?" I asked him as I dropped my own bags in my bedroom.

"Either, or," was his reply, and I rolled my eyes.

"Which is it?" I asked.

"I don't care."

I smacked my head at his response. Why was it so fucking difficult for dudes to decide what they wanted to do for dinner? James and I had this exact same discussion a thousand times.

"Fine, we'll get Cuban and bring it back here to eat," I said, daring him to argue with me.

"Sounds good."

After being on a boat for most of the day, I decided to take a quick shower before we left to get some food, and I told Edward he was welcome to do the same once I was done.

An hour and a half later, we were eating Cuban sandwiches with a side of fried plantains and drinking it all down with a couple of beers.

"Next time you're in Miami, I'll give you a tour. I'll even take you down to Key West," I said with a grin because he'd confessed to being a Parrot Head. That is what the die-hard fans of Jimmy Buffett called themselves, and he'd yet to take a trip down to there.

"That would be awesome, and I'll totally take you up on that," he said before taking a bite of his sandwich.

As we sat and ate our dinner, watching an old movie on the TV, I realized that I'd had more fun with Edward in one evening than I'd had with James in months. And as if the devil himself had heard me, there was a knock on my door, so I set my plate down on the coffee table to answer the door.

"Oh, you've got to be fucking kidding me," I muttered as I peered through the peep hole.

"What's wrong?" Edward asked.

"My ex-boyfriend is on the other side of the door. I don't even want to know what he wants."

"Want me to answer it?" Edward asked with an evil grin, and I let out a laugh.

"Sure, why not?" I said, thinking maybe it would keep James from coming around. According to Mrs. Cope, James had been by every week since I'd been gone.

Standing up, Edward ran a hand through his hair before putting a cocky grin on his face as he opened the door.

"Can I help you?" he asked in a cool voice, and James didn't say a word as he stood there, taking Edward in.

"Who the fuck are you?" James finally asked, and Edward raised an eyebrow at him.

"That's none of your business. Is there something you wanted?"

"Yeah, I want to speak to Bella," James said through gritted teeth, and I shook my head. I certainly didn't want to see James.

"Too bad. She doesn't want to see you," Edward told him, and James began to swear up a storm and call me names. They didn't bother me, but it certainly seemed to piss Edward off because he reached out the open door and grabbed James by the front of his shirt.

"Don't you dare fucking call her that," he snarled. "Say it again, and you're going to be in for a world of hurt."

"What-the-fuck-ever man. You can have her. She's a coldhearted bitch anyway," James said before stomping down the hall, and I was left standing in my living room, shocked by Edward's defense of me.

"What an asshole," Edward commented as he shut the door and locked it.

"Yeah, he is. I'm still trying to figure out what I saw in him," I admitted with a wry smile.

"Eh, I've made my fair share of bad relationship choices. It's a part of life, I guess?

"I guess so," I said quietly as I began to pick up the remains of our dinner and carry them into the kitchen.

All too soon, it was time for bed, and I grabbed one of my pillows and made up the couch for myself while Edward took my bed.

I made sure that the alarm on my phone was set for five a.m. since his flight left at seven, and then I tried to get some sleep.

However, two hours later, I was still wide awake, and the reason I was awake was sleeping down the hall in my bed.

Edward Cullen had grown up to be even hotter, and he was incredibly sweet with a gorgeous smile and those amazing green eyes.

If I thought I'd been attracted to him before, it was nothing compared to now, and it was stupid to even let myself think about him like that. He was leaving for another country and would be gone for who knew how long, and despite our talks, we still didn't know each other. Not really. Yes, we were forever connected because of the tragedy involving my dad, but we were still strangers.

Eventually, I drifted off to sleep only to be awoken by the alarm ringing on my phone.

Groaning, I sat up and stretched before making my way into the kitchen and starting the coffeemaker. I was definitely going to need coffee to survive the morning.

Padding down the hall, I knocked on my bedroom door and cracked it open to make sure that Edward was awake.

"Yeah?" he asked, opening the door a bit, and I found myself staring at Edward wearing nothing but a pair of boxers.

"Sorry," I mumbled, a blush gracing my cheeks, but my eyes were drawn to the scar on his torso. It was a dark, raised scar going from just below his pecs to down past his naval. There was also a quarter sized scar on his right lower abdomen.

"Is that?" I asked, gesturing towards him, and he nodded his head.

"Yeah, they had to open me up to remove the bullet and repair the damage to my liver."

"Jesus!" I mumbled, continuing to stare at him before I realized how rude I was being.

"Sorry," I said with a shake of my head. "I just wanted to let you know that the coffee is ready if you want some."

He thanked me and told me he'd be out in a few, and I left the room, wandering back into the kitchen to pour myself a cup of hot coffee mixed with creamer and three tablespoons of sugar.

"How do you take your coffee?" I asked Edward as he walked into the kitchen, fully dressed and ready to go.

"Black."

I handed him a mug, and we drank our coffee in silence for several minutes before I asked him if he wanted some breakfast.

"All I've got is toast and Pop-Tarts, but we can always pick something up if you want."

He shook his head as he told me he wasn't hungry, and ten minutes later, we were in my truck going toward Miami International Airport.

Traffic was heavier than usual, so it took us almost twice as long as it normally would to get there.

I pulled up to the international flights terminal and put the truck in park, exiting the vehicle just as Edward did.

"Keep in touch, Edward," I requested as he set his bags down on the curb, and he nodded.

"I promise. Look after yourself, Bella, and we'll get together when I'm back in the states," he said, giving me a hug.

I hugged him back, feeling a weird sense of loss. I'd just found him again after all these years, and now, I felt like I was losing him again.

"Have a safe trip and let me know that you arrived safely, please."

"Will do," he said before grabbing his bags and tossing a wave my way.

I watched as he walked inside the terminal before getting back into my truck. I wasn't ready to go home, so I decided that I'd drive to over to Lummus Park Beach.

The beach was quiet, a few people scattered here and there, and after kicking off my shoes, I began to walk along the shoreline.

I loved walking on the beach. They gave me time to think and sort out what I was feeling.

I stayed out on the beach for another hour until it really started to come to life, and then I climbed back into my truck and decided to pick up breakfast before heading home.

* * *

"Good morning, sunshine!" Rose said on Monday morning, and I looked over at her as she stood in the doorway to my office. She had a huge grin on her face which was very unusual for her especially on a Monday.

"Oh, my God! You got laid!" I hissed as I stared at her, and her cheeks bloomed pink. "You slept with Emmett, didn't you?"

"What?" she asked, her cheeks getting even brighter.

"Oh, don't even try and deny it. You haven't been this chipper on a Monday morning since you slept with that Samoan surfer last year."

"Fuck!" she hissed. "Is it that obvious?"

"To me, yes, but that's only because we're such good friends. You know, Alice will know, and then there's Emmett. He'll probably want to shout it off the roof top."

"He'd better fucking not," she said with a growl, and I let out a snicker.

"Hey, hey, hey, ladies!" Emmett's voice boomed not a moment later, and I smirked as Rose ran a hand over her hair and smoothed her dress.

"Morning, Em," I said with a smile as he leaned down and kissed Rose's cheek.

"What do you have planned for the day?" he asked me, and I told him all I was doing was paperwork while Rose said she was going to be busy doing research on just about everything.

I grinned as they left my office, walking hand in hand down the hallway because it seemed that Emmett was staking his claim publically, or maybe Rose was. Either way, I was happy for them, and judging by the squeals coming down the hallway from Alice, she was just as happy.

"Well, Ali's happy about something," Jasper commented a few minutes later, peeking his head into my office.

"Your wife is crazy," was my response, and Jasper let out a hearty laugh.

"You have no idea," he said before entering my office and plopping down on the small couch in the corner.

"Listen, I wanted to let you know that Ali and I are leaving for France in two days. We'll be gone for a week, maybe a week and a half. We're going to see if we can't dig up more information on the _Sirène._ "

"I figured that's what you would do."

"Dr. Tanner will be in charge while I'm gone, but I'm not anticipating any major projects to come up. If there's small or local excavations that need our help, feel free to participate in them."

I nodded my head but told him I wasn't sure I'd have time. I had to finish up an article, and I was guest lecturing the following week at the University of Miami.

"Just write up any reports if you do any excavation work," he reminded me, and I nodded once more before wishing him well on his trip.

"Try and actually get some work done, and don't let Alice drag you into every boutique she sees," I told him, and he let out a chuckle. Alice was known for her shopping excursions.

Two hours later, I was finishing up my paper for the _Journal of Maritime Archeology_. It wasn't half bad, and I decided to ask Dr. Tanner if she'd look it over. The woman was a prolific writer, and I knew she'd be honest with me.

After saving my article, I removed the flash drive and began to walk down the hall toward Dr. T's office, bumping into Jacob Black on the way.

"Hey, Bella," he said with that cocky grin that I was really beginning to find annoying.

"Dr. Black," I responded, and he let out a small laugh.

"It's Jacob, Bella. No need for formalities. So, what are you up to?" he asked, and I held back an annoyed sigh.

"I need to have Dr. Tanner look over something for me," I told him before I resumed walking down the hall, and he began to walk alongside me.

"Was there something you needed, Jacob?" I asked.

"Just for you to agree to go to dinner with me," he said, that cocky grin back on his face.

"No thank you, Jacob. I'm not interested," I told him, and I wasn't. I was only interested in one person right now, but he was across the world in the Philippines, and I wasn't sure if he was even available.

"You'll change your mind," he said before sauntering off down the hallway, and I rolled my eyes at the man's audacity.

"Well, he's a cocky one, isn't he?" Dr. T asked from her office doorway, arms crossed over her chest.

"He's annoying is what he is," I muttered, and she let out a laugh before inviting me into her office.

I sat in a chair across from her desk and explained the basis of my article was about the long term corrosion processes of iron and steel shipwrecks. Sure, it wasn't exactly a page turner or all that exciting, but it was fairly well written, and I was proud of my work.

"I'd be glad to take a look at it," she said, and I thanked her before standing up and letting her know that I was going to grab some lunch.

"Do you want anything?"

"A lettuce wrap from that vegan place down the road would be great," she requested, and I told her I'd be back in a few.

By the time four o'clock rolled around, I was ready to call it a day. I was tired and cranky, and Jacob Black wouldn't stop bugging me. He'd stopped by my office twice more, and I was about ready to file a restraining order against him because he wouldn't stop annoying me.

After putting my laptop and tablet away in my bag, I grabbed my purse and keys, and made my way out of the building, stopping to let Dr. T know that I'd see her later in the week.

I stopped to pick up some groceries on my way home, and once I got home, I put the groceries away and the collapsed on my couch for a much needed and well deserved nap.

I woke up a couple of hours later, feeling groggy and regretting taking my nap. I hoped like hell I managed to sleep later, but I wasn't holding my breath. I loved naps, but I tended not to sleep later at night after taking them.

I made myself a quick dinner of Spaghettios and ate it in front of the TV, watching a David Attenborough documentary.

Not long after I finished eating, my phone pinged, and I noticed I had a text message from Edward.

 _Made it to London. Have a five hour layover._

 _Ugh. That sucks, but at least you can go explore the city for a bit,_ I texted back.

 _It's 11:30 pm here. Not sure I'm going to be doing much exploring_ , he wrote.

 _Yuck. Are you going to spend the night in the airport?_

He wrote back, saying there was no point in getting a hotel when he'd have to be back there in a few hours anyway to go through security; however, his flight from London would be a direct one so he wouldn't have to spend hours, hanging around another airport.

We spent the next half hour, texting before he told me he was going to try and catch a nap in one of the private lounges at Heathrow.

 _Thanks for letting me know that you made it to London safely. Check in when you arrive in Manila._

 _Will do_ , he texted back.

After we were done texting, I caught up on my emails and noticed I had one from Esme. She'd emailed a few times while I'd been on the _Brizo,_ and I'd kept her up-to-date on our findings.

At first, I hadn't let her know that Edward was aboard the ship mainly because I didn't know if he wanted her to know. When I talked to him about it, he said he had already told her, so she was aware that we were on the same vessel.

I clicked open her email, and it was just a quick hello, wanting to make sure that we'd gotten back to Miami safely. I wrote her back, letting her know that I was going to be at home in Miami for a few months at least

I also had an email from my mother which shocked the hell out of me. We hadn't spoken in years, and I spent a few moments, debating whether or not I wanted to open it. Eventually, curiosity got the better of me, and I clicked on it.

 _Hello Isabella,_ it began, and I gritted my teeth at the greeting. She knew how much I hated being called Isabella, and that led me to believe that she'd done it on purpose, knowing it would piss me off.

Her email went on to say that she and Phil were going to be in Miami later in the week for a banking conference that Phil had to attend. I guess his days of being a college baseball coach were over.

 _It would be nice if you could make time out of your busy schedule to visit with us,_ she wrote, and I swore I could hear the sarcastic, condescending attitude in her voice.

I heaved a sigh as I flopped back on the couch and stared at her email. I didn't want to visit with her. I didn't want to see her. She'd made her feelings on my career choice pretty fucking clear. I also knew that if I didn't see her or at least attempt to give her another chance to be a decent human being, that I'd either A. regret it, or B. never hear the end of it from her.

 _Let me know what days you'll be here, and I'll arrange to take some time off work_ , I wrote back.

Setting my laptop down on the coffee table, I wandered into the kitchen and grabbed a bottle of hard cider from the fridge.

I had a feeling alcohol would be needed to get through the week.

* * *

 **a/n: Let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.**


	7. Chapter 7

**A/N: Thanks so much for all your patience and not yelling at me for not getting this up last week. My beta had a death in the family and understandably needed to be with them.**

 **I also wanted to thank you all for the reviews from last chapter. I'm glad you all seem to be enjoying the story because I'm having fun writing it. Now, I'm off to watch reruns of QI (a British panel show that everyone should watch).**

* * *

"Let me look at you," my mother said as we met in the parking lot of the Blue Whale Seafood Oyster Bar, one of the most expensive restaurants in Miami. When she'd called two days ago, I had suggested some lesser expensive places, but she had insisted on eating here. Thinking about what a meal here was going to cost me had me wincing because there was no way in hell she and Phil would be buying my meal. Phil was a tightass when it came to spending money on others.

"You're looking a little thick around the middle," she commented after giving me a thorough look over, and I rolled my eyes.

"I'm well within my weight range for someone of my height and stature," I replied, trying to keep my voice calm.

"Hmph. Well, it wouldn't hurt you to lose a few pounds. Perhaps, you should just have a salad for dinner."

"Perhaps, I should just leave," was my reply, and she glared at me.

"We drove all the way over here from our hotel to meet you, and now you want to ditch us?" she asked, completely outraged.

"I didn't want to eat here, remember? I offered several choices that were closer to your hotel, but you insisted on dining here. Since you're here, why don't you and Phil go have a lovely dinner, and I'll talk to you later."

"God, you're such a drama queen," Mother said, and I shook my head. I should have known this was going to happen.

"Goodbye, Mother. I would say it was nice seeing you again, but it wasn't," I told her as I turned around and walked toward my truck, that clearly stood out in the parking lot full of Mercedes' and BMW's.

I could hear my mother calling my name, but I ignored her, starting the truck and then driving off.

Since I was starving, I stopped by Popeye's Louisiana Kitchen and got myself a bucket of spicy chicken with a side of jambalaya, mashed potatoes, and coleslaw. It was a ton of food, but it would keep me fed for the next few days that I now had off. Although, I was thinking about going in to work anyway just for something to do.

Once I got home, I ate my chicken in my fancy dress while watching a crime show. I was in the middle of chewing when there was a knock on my door, and I let out an annoyed breath as I put my food down to check and see who was on the other side.

Peering through the peephole, I saw Rose and Emmett, so I unlocked the door to let them in, thinking that I wouldn't have any leftovers to eat later in the week.

"Hey, Little B," Emmett said, walking into the living room before giving me a fist bump.

"Hey, Em," I said before turning to Rose with a raised eyebrow.

"I had a feeling dinner with your mom wasn't going to go well, so I came bearing gifts," she said holding up a plastic grocery bag and pulling out a six-pack of my favorite hard cider.

"You are an amazing best friend," I told her as I took the alcohol from her and put it in the fridge to chill along with the six pack of beer she'd brought.

"Can I have a drumstick?" Emmett hollered from the living room, and I snickered.

"Emmett, you just ate a whole pizza! How can you still be hungry?" Rose asked.

"I'm a growing boy, Rosie!"

I couldn't hold back my laugh.

"Yeah, help yourself, but don't eat it all. That's my dinner for tonight and tomorrow," I called out, and he shouted out a thank you.

"He's a bottomless pit," Rose grumbled, but she was smiling as she said it.

"So, I take it you two are officially together?" I asked her, and a giant smile accompanied by a blush was my answer.

"Hell yeah, we are!" Emmett boomed as he came into the kitchen with a drumstick in his hand. "I knew she would fall for me. I'm hard to resist."

"And incredibly modest as well, I see," I teased, and he shot me a dimpled grin.

It was nice having them over, and we spent the evening, drinking and laughing while watching cheesy comedies. They totally helped me get out of the funk I'd been in thanks to dear old mom.

A little after ten, Rose and Emmett got up to leave, and I thanked them for coming over.

"It was fun," Emmett said before giving me a giant bear hug, and I hugged him back.

"Enjoy the next two days off," Rose said. "I don't want to see you in the office."

I opened my mouth to protest, but she just shook her head.

"I mean it, Bells. Go to the beach, the zoo, or the aquarium. Whatever. You can just bum around the house if you want, but take some time to just relax."

"I don't need to relax," I argued.

"Yes, you do. We spent three and a half weeks on a ship, working, and now you've had to deal with your bitch of a mother. Trust me, sweetie, you need to relax. I'll see you on Friday. Hell, take Friday off, too."

I shook my head and I told her I'd be there on Friday. I actually enjoyed my work, for the most part, and I didn't want to miss too much.

I spent the next two days doing my best to relax, and I did follow some of Rose's suggestions. I went to the beach, the library, and the aquarium, and I had a nice time, but I was ready to be back at work.

It was as I was on my way home from the aquarium that my phone rang.

"Hello?"

"Hello, Isabella," Mother said. "I wanted to let you know that Phil and I are leaving this afternoon."

"Have a safe trip home," I told her, hoping that was the end of the conversation, but of course, it wasn't.

She spent the next fifteen minutes, berating me and telling me how immature I was and how I needed to grow up.

"Really, Bella. You're almost thirty. It's time to stop acting like a child."

"I'll be thirty-one in September," I replied before wishing her well on her trip home and hanging up the phone.

Sometimes, family was a pain in the ass. At least my mother was. If dad were still around, things would have been different. Maybe not my mother's attitude toward me, but I'd at least have a family member with whom I enjoyed spending time.

* * *

"How are you, Bella?" Edward asked over Skype on Thursday night. He was thirteen hours ahead of me, so while it was nine o'clock at night in Miami, it was eleven in the morning in the Philippines. He'd texted me the previous day, asking if I wanted to Skype, and I'd agreed. I'd told myself that I'd only agreed to do it because he was probably missing being in the states and it'd be nice to see a friendly face, but the truth was that I missed him.

I talked more to Edward via text than I'd probably talked to James in person the whole time we'd been dating. It was crazy how badly I was crushing on Edward. It felt sudden and strange, but when I'd talked to Rose about it, she said it was probably because Edward and I had a connection.

"Meh," was my response as my eyes drank him in.

He looked good. Healthy and happy, and he had a nice tan going on.

"What's wrong?"

"It's nothing. I don't want to bore you with it," I told him, and he frowned at me.

"I wouldn't have asked if I didn't want to know. Talk to me, Bella."

So, I did. I told him all about my mother and her visit and how it had been a complete disaster.

"I'm sorry, Bella. I didn't realize things were that bad between the two of you. You know, if you need a mom to talk to, mine would gladly be there for you."

"I know she would. Esme and I have been talking a lot more as of late. I think it's because of you," I told him.

"Could be. She might be using you to check up on me," he said with a snicker.

"You should talk to her," I said before apologizing and telling him it wasn't my place to tell him what to do with regards to his parents.

"I know. I've gotten better about calling and emailing them since I reconnected with you," he said softly, and I felt myself falling for him a little bit harder.

"So, how's the salvaging going?" I asked, changing the subject.

"It goes. Long days out here. They're salvaging a sunken Chinese cargo ship from the sixties. I guess the Chinese government wants it back."

"Man, I haven't been on a regular salvaging dive in a couple of years. I kind of miss it," I said, and he let out a snort.

"I've had to go down with some of the crew a few times to help out."

"Still don't care for diving?"

"I'm better at it than I used to be mainly because I've had to go down and fix my own boats plenty of times, but it's not my favorite thing to do. For a while after I was shot, I wouldn't even go out on a boat much less dive in the water. I eventually got over my fear of both."

We sat and talked for another hour until I couldn't hold back my yawns, despite trying to hide them.

"Get some sleep, Bella. We'll talk again soon."

"Goodnight, Edward. Well, good morning, I guess."

He let out a small chuckle before bidding me goodnight, and I rolled my eyes at myself when I sat there wondering how long it would be until I heard from him again. I was acting like a swoony, love-sick teenager.

I went to bed thirty minutes later and slept better than I had all week. It could have been because I was so stressed from dealing with my mother, but I think a lot of it was due to talking to Edward.

By nine the next morning, I was well into my workday at the office, catching up on emails, phone calls, and memos that had come in over the past two days while I'd been out. It was slightly tedious, but I'd accepted an interview with an anthropology student at the University of Florida and agreed to look over some old pottery that had been found by some amateur divers.

I had just gotten up to grab myself another cup of coffee when my computer beeped, letting me know that I had an incoming Skype call.

I accepted the call and was greeted by Jasper and Alice.

"Hey! How are you guys?" I asked, leaning forward in my chair to get a better look at them. They both looked deliriously happy.

"Fan-fucking-tastic!" Jasper said, a huge grin on his face as Alice sat next to him, nodding her head enthusiastically.

"Yeah? Well, do tell!"

Jasper grabbed some papers from nearby and held them up to the camera. They were written in French, but the only French I knew were words like bon appetite, so that didn't help me at all.

"What are they?"

"It's a four-page letter written by the first mate of the _Sirène_ , Francois Chenart, to his wife, Isabelle. It was dated August 14, 1730. It's the last known communication from the _Sirène_ before she went down," Jasper told me. "Bella, this letter was written two months before the ship was reported missing. Chernart states in his letter that they had been blown way off course and had run aground in a small port town in Cape Verde."

"Cape Verde? Isn't that off the coast of Africa?" I asked, and Jasper nodded his head.

"Yes! This whole time we've been thinking that the _Sirène_ was near the British Virgin Islands or the Dominican Republic, but this letter says otherwise! We've been completely looking in the wrong place!"

"Okay, I get that, but how do we know where they went after Cape Verde? They could have easily gone east toward the Virgin Islands or Barbados. I mean, wasn't that their original destination? Who's to say that they didn't get that far? Besides, I thought they'd already made their deliveries in the British Islands and were on their way home when the storm hit."

I was playing devil's advocate and I hated to rain on Jasper's parade, but these were questions that needed to be asked.

"It's 2100 nautical miles between Cape Verde and Barbados. That's about a sixteen day trip if they were going five knots," I explained. "It was doable. A pain in the ass, for sure, but doable."

"I don't think they did. According to the letter, they were low on supplies and the people of Cape Verde weren't exactly welcoming them with open arms. Cidade Velha was attacked by the French seventeen years earlier, so the people weren't too welcoming of Chenart or the crew of the ship. Without supplies, they wouldn't have lasted sixteen days at sea."

Nodding, I told Jasper he had a good point.

"But Jasper, that's over 2100 miles we'd have to search. That would take us years. Is there any way to narrow that down?"

"August through October are when the most storms are present around Cape Verde. I'm meeting with a meteorologist who focuses on historical climatology tomorrow. He thinks he can help me determine what the weather was like when the crew landed in Cape Verde. If the storms were bad, chances are good the ship didn't make it too far off the coast."

"Jas?" I asked before he could continue because something was bugging me as I listened to him talking.

"Yeah?"

"Where did this letter come from? How come we haven't heard about it before? I mean, if the French government knew about this letter wouldn't they have given it to us to help with the search since they're the ones who want us to find it?"

"I don't think the government knew about it, but they do now," he told me. "The letter has been in a private collection for years. We were at the library here doing research and this older gentleman overheard Alice and I and told us that he had something that might interest us. And don't worry, I had Rose do a background check on him before we met with him."

I felt a bit better knowing that, but I wasn't sure how much this letter could be trusted, and it seemed a bit too coincidental that it suddenly showed up out of the blue.

"We've made the French government aware of the letter, and they're authenticating it as we speak," he assured me once more, and I nodded my head.

"Okay, so I guess we have a new starting point," I said, and Jasper gave me a huge grin and a thumbs up before they signed off.

* * *

 _Jasper found a clue as to where the Sirène might have sunk_ , I texted Edward before leaving my office and heading down the hall to see if Dr. Tanner was in.

Her door was closed with a note saying she was out of the office until later that afternoon, so I decided to make my way upstairs to the second floor of our office where Rose worked. As I passed by the breakroom, I saw Jessica Stanley and Mike Newton arguing rather loudly over something, and I rushed by, not wanting to get caught up in their drama, and boy, did they have drama. They used to be married, but it had ended after Mike cheated on Jessica with Lauren Mallory who also worked for Poseidon. Why they were still all employed here was beyond me, or why one of them hadn't left yet still left me confused. I sure as hell wouldn't want to work with my ex and the woman he cheated on me with.

Escaping them successfully, I raced up the stairs only to come face-to-face with Jacob Black. I barely acknowledged his greeting as I rushed by him.

"You busy?" I asked Rose as I walked into her office, and she waved her hand in a so-so motion.

"What's up?" she asked, never looking away from the four monitors that covered her desk.

As I sat across from her desk, I told her Jasper had Skyped me and that he had a new idea as to the location of the _Sirène._

"He'll let me know more once he talks to a few more people. What are you up to?"

"Marcus Caius," she said, and my heart raced at hearing his name.

"I told you that I'd look into him, but I got so busy with our trip that I lost track of time and didn't get around to it."

"Have you found him?"

"Not yet, but I will. The last transaction I've found for him took place eight years ago in Barbados. He was arrested for public intoxication and starting a fight. You'd think that a man who was wanted for murder and attempted murder would stay off the grid and away from legal troubles, but old habits die hard, I guess."

I nodded my head.

"Anyway, he's gone underground since then, or so it seems. I've got feelers out and I've called in a few favors. If the man is alive, or even if he is dead, I will find him. He needs to be convicted for his crimes."

Again, I nodded my head but didn't say a word.

"I figure that if Caius is still alive, he's probably been keeping tabs on anyone searching for the _Sirène_ , and since Jasper has been poking around, Caius might just pop up."

I paled at her words because the last thing I wanted was for Jasper to get hurt because of some fucking psycho who wanted the Treasured Heart for himself.

"Nothing can happen to Jasper!" I practically growled. "This stupid shipwreck isn't worth anymore lives."

"I know, sweetie," she said in a soothing voice. "I promise you that the second Caius crosses my radar, I will alert the authorities. I've also got an alert out for anyone attempting to sell or trade any brooches that resemble the Treasured Heart."

My head snapped up and I looked at her. I have no idea why the hell it had never occurred to me that someone may have already found the brooch and was trying to sell it

"Jesus! That never even occurred to me, and it very well should have," I mumbled, but Rose shook her head.

"I didn't think of it initially. It wasn't until I was putting out feelers for Caius that I thought about it. I've joined all kinds of legal and not so legal forums that are for treasure hunters and private collectors. There are bored, rich people out there, willing to sell their souls or their grandmothers for some rare treasure."

"Yeah, there are," I said in agreement because I'd come across a few some years ago on a dive. The only reason they'd wanted to go out diving was so they could sell their finds to the highest bidder. It wasn't about preserving the find or handing it over to the proper authorities. It had been about the payday.

"Bells, I promise you, I've got my eye out for this guy."

"I know you do. Thanks, Rose."

After grabbing a snack from the vending machine, I made my way back downstairs to my office, but I couldn't concentrate.

Bringing up Google, I typed in Marcus Caius's name, but I didn't get anything except an old newspaper article dated twenty years ago that didn't say much.

Snorting in disgust, I closed the page and sent an email to the young student who wanted an interview to see if she was available to do it in an hour or so. She got back to me right away, and we made an appointment to meet at a Starbucks down the street from my office at two o'clock.

I spent the next hour, trying to work before giving up and leaving for Starbucks thirty minutes before I was to meet with Jane Alec.

"Dr. Swan?" a woman asked me forty-five minutes later, and I looked up to see a very pale, young woman standing next to my table.

"Yes. Jane Alec?"

She nodded and took a seat across from mine.

The interview started off easily enough. She asked basic questions wanting to get a feel for what I did, but then the interview took a different turn.

"Is it true that your father was murdered while hunting for treasure?" she asked eagerly.

"Excuse me?" I asked, startled by the line of questioning. My father's death wasn't widely known.

"Is it true?" she asked again, and I shook my head.

"Yes, my father was murdered," I confirmed. "But that's all I'm going to say about it. If you any more questions regarding the work I do, I'll be glad to answer them. However, if you continue with this paparazzi style of questioning, you can consider this interview over."

"Sorry," she mumbled, looking contrite, but I wasn't sure I was buying it. There was something about her that seemed familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on it.

She asked me a few more questions about shipwrecks I'd helped salvage and excavate, and then she thanked me before standing up and leaving.

I made sure to add a note in my phone to have Rose look into the young woman because something about her made me uneasy, or maybe I was just becoming paranoid. It wouldn't be the first time. After dad was killed and I was sent to live with Mother, I would wake up in the middle of the night, terrified that someone was watching me. No one was, or at least I hoped no one was, but it had left me feeling terrified and uneasy.

Standing up from the table, I grabbed my cup of tea and tossed it in the bin before making my way to my car.

Twenty minutes later, I was at home, exchanging a text with Edward.

 _So how was your day?_ He texted.

 _Could have been better. Could have been worse. You?_

 _Same. I've been up for about an hour, and I've already had to dive and patch a hole in the ship. We've got to head inland soon or else we'll be under water._

 _Jesus!_ I wrote back. _Get that fixed and soon. Please be safe._

 _I will,_ he promised before telling me he'd talk to me later. I certainly hoped so because I'd become addicted to our talks, and I missed seeing him.

* * *

 **a/n: Look at that. Stuff is happening or will be. As always, let me know what you thought! See you next Sunday. Oh, for future reference, if there is a delay in the story, I'll put it up on my twitter, bookwormeg, or my fb page www. facebook. com. / tardis19fanfic.**


	8. Chapter 8

**A/N: Good morning, folks! I've got a busy day of movie watching ahead of me (Belko Experiment and Beauty and the Beast), so I'm getting this out to you as soon as I could.**

 **Thank you all so much for the reviews last chapter! They warm my little heart, and I love seeing all of your theories.**

 **As always, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her awesomeness!**

 **P.S. (Do people use P.S. at the top of letters or notes? Never mind cause I'm going to). I took a few creative liberties in here although I did do research.**

* * *

It had been three weeks since Jasper and Alice had left for France, and they were finally on their way back after flying down to Cape Verde to talk to the government and discuss maritime salvaging laws with them.

Jasper was thoroughly convinced that the _Sirène_ had never made it to Barbados and that it had sunk just off the coast of Cape Verde. I hoped he was right, but I wasn't going to hold my breath. In this line of work, there was a lot of guessing going on, and I didn't want him to be disappointed if this turned out to be another false lead.

In the meantime, while we waited for them to return, Rose had been digging up everything she could on Jane Alec, the young woman who'd interviewed me. Rose quickly learned that there was no one named Jane Alec who went to the University of Florida. I'd given Rose a description of the young woman, and Rose had found a few credit card transactions in the woman's name, but there was no Florida driver's license or state I.D. for a twenty-something year-old with light brown hair, dark eyes, and a birthmark below her right eye.

Rose was now searching nationally, and I wasn't sure what she was doing was completely legal, but I didn't ask because I had a feeling I was better off not knowing.

"Huh," Rose said, and I looked up from the eBook I was reading on my phone.

"What's up?" I asked her, but she didn't answer. Her fingers flew across her keyboard at lightning speed as she muttered quietly to herself.

She was killing me, but I knew better than to interrupt her. I'd made that mistake in the past. She would let me know what she found when she was ready, so I left her office and went to the breakroom for a fresh cup of coffee.

I let out a barely audible groan when I noticed Jacob sitting at the small table in the center of the room.

"So, did you miss me?" he asked, and I shook my head. He'd been out of town for the past week and a half, and I hadn't missed the annoying man in the slightest. You'd think he'd learn to take a hint, but it seemed as though my not being interested in him only spurred him on. It was fucking annoying.

"I didn't even notice you were gone," I told him.

"Sure," he said with a wink, and I took a deep breath before turning to face him.

"You know what, Dr. Black? I'm tired of the flirting and constant running into me. I've made it very clear that I'm not interested in you, and yet you still persist. I'm done. I'm not playing whatever game this is, so here's the deal, leave me alone or else I'll be paying a visit to HR."

"You need to lighten up," he said.

"You need to give up because this," I said, gesturing between the two of us, "will never happen. Ever. I mean it, Dr. Black. Leave me alone."

Done saying what I had to say, I took my mug of coffee and left the room, almost knocking Emmett over as I turned the corner.

"Whoa, Little B," he said, reaching out to steady me before I fell or spilled my coffee all over the floor.

"You okay?" he asked.

"I'll be fine as long as Jacob Black leaves me alone," I snarled, and Emmett's eyes darkened.

"Is he fucking bothering you?"

"Hopefully, not anymore," I said before explaining to Emmett what I'd said to Black.

"If he keeps bothering you, then let me know. I'll take care of him," he said with an evil grin and the cracking of his knuckles. I had no doubt that Emmett could beat the shit out of Black, but I didn't want it to come to that.

"Thanks."

He gave my shoulder a gentle squeeze before telling me he was stealing Rose away for a late lunch.

Back in my office, I immersed myself in work until I heard Alice's voice coming down the hallway. She was talking so fast, I doubt anyone could understand a word that she was saying, but I'd missed her endless chatter.

"Bella!" she squealed when she spotted me, rushing over and giving me a huge hug.

"I missed you so much! Oh, I have something for you somewhere," she said, rifling through her purse which was the size of a small duffle bag.

"Here you go!" she said, handing me a container of chocolate, a small statue of the Eiffel Tower, and three postcards.

"Thanks, Ali. You didn't have to get me anything, but thank you."

She gave me another hug before rushing off to deliver gifts to others like she was a tiny elf on a mission from Santa.

"Hey, Bella," Jasper drawled, and I grinned.

"Hey, to you too, Jasper," I replied. "So, you really think you've found the area where the _Sirène_ went down?"

"I really do, and we'll talk about it on Monday. I'm calling a staff meeting at eight. I'd do it today, but I'm freaking tired and want to spend the weekend, relaxing and gathering my thoughts."

"Sounds good. Welcome back, Jasper. It was quiet without the two of you around."

"I bet. Sometimes, I miss the quiet," he said forlornly just as Alice came around the corner.

"Don't listen to him, Bella. He would go stir crazy without my chattering."

"This is probably true," Jasper admitted, giving Alice a kiss on the cheek before walking toward his office.

* * *

On Monday morning, I arrived at the office a little after seven, but I couldn't sit still and focus on my work. Jasper had scheduled a meeting for eight where he was going to give us the information that he'd found out and most likely plot a course for our next trip. I was nervous and excited, but at the moment, I was mainly nervous, and that was because Rose had been acting weird since she arrived.

"Spill," I demanded as I walked into her office, and she shook her head.

"No time. We need to get to this meeting," she said, practically running past me toward the door.

Something was definitely up, and I frowned when she walked into Jasper's office and shut the door. Oh, yeah. Something was definitely wrong.

Sighing, I walked past his office and down to the conference room where I took a seat between Emmett and Dr. Tanner.

Jasper came in a few minutes later with Rose right behind him, and she shook her head at me as she took a seat. I frowned but nodded because now wasn't the time.

Jasper began the meeting by telling us everything that he and Alice had discovered in France. He showed us photographs of the letter written by the _Sirène's_ first mate as well as handing us a translated version so that we could read for ourselves. He put up weather maps on the monitor, explaining about the storms that were in the Cape Verde region at the time. He was very convincing and asked if we were all onboard.

There was a general consensus, so he told us to finish up whatever we had planned and that we'd leave in two weeks.

"Since it would take us two weeks to sail there, we're going to fly into Morocco where a research vessel will be waiting for us," he said, and I stared at him as if he'd lost his damn mind.

"How many people are going?" Mike Newton asked.

"Six researchers plus myself. The ship's crew will meet us there or be from the area," he answered and was immediately bombarded with cries of outrage.

"Listen, if you want to pay your own way, then I'd love to have you, but Poseidon will only pay for six researchers, and those six have been chosen based on their expertise. Those of you not going can either help out from here remotely or you can work on other cases."

There was a lot of grumbling, but Jasper held up his hand and everyone quieted down.

"I'd love to have all of you come. If you can afford the flight, which is about eight hundred bucks, I'm all for it. I mean it. I'd love to have all of you, but Mr. Aro, Poseidon's president, refuses to shell out the money for us to take the whole lot of you."

"What a douche canoe," Emmett muttered which caused laughter to break out.

Before the meeting let out, Jasper let us know it would Emmett, Rose, Alice, Jessica, Dr. Tanner, me, and of course, Jasper.

He dismissed everyone else, asking the six of to stay behind. I wasn't particularly thrilled that Jessica was going with, but she was excellent at her job, so I couldn't fault Jasper for picking her to join us.

"I've asked Edward Cullen to join us if he's done with his current job by then. If not, we'll be hiring Embry Call," Jasper told us, and I saw Jessica's nose wrinkle up. Embry was her ex-boyfriend. The guy she'd dated before marrying Mike. Our field was a small one and there tended to be a lot of overlap.

We spent the next hour, going over the specifics of our trip before breaking up the meeting; however, before I could leave the conference room, Rose shut the door and turned to face me.

"What's going on, Rose?" I asked.

She turned on her tablet and handed it to me.

I stared down at the face of the young woman I knew as Jane Alec, but it was the surname under the picture that made my blood run cold.

Heidi Caius.

I felt the blood drain out of my face and sat down hard in the closest chair.

"Explain," I croaked.

"This woman is Marcus Caius' daughter from his fourth marriage," she began.

"So, what, she hunts me down so she can ask me questions about my dad or find out about the _Sirène_?

Rose shrugged. "Maybe. I'm not sure why she showed up here. Perhaps she learned that her father was a murderer and she wants to know the truth, or maybe she thinks he's been falsely accused. I honestly don't know."

I sat back in my chair, looking at the picture of Heidi. There was only one way to find out what she wanted, and that was to hunt her down.

I pulled out my phone, going through my history of recently made calls and easily found her number.

"Don't meet her alone," Jasper said before I could call. "Have her meet you at South Pointe Pier. It's public and busy. If she has nothing hide, she shouldn't be afraid to meet with you, and you won't be alone. I'll be there."

"Okay," I told him before pressing the redial button on my phone.

"Hello?"

"Jane? This is Dr. Swan," I said, and just like that, I had her hooked. She eagerly agreed to a meeting at two o'clock the next afternoon down at the pier.

After hanging up, I rubbed my fingers against my temples, thinking I needed some aspirin or a drink.

"We'll figure this out," Rose promised.

"I know. I just don't understand why. She knew about my dad's death, so it makes sense that Caius either spun her some story about it or she figured it out on her own. Guess I'll find out tomorrow."

Needless to say, I was unable to think clearly the rest of the work day. However, I made myself stay and put in requests for the equipment we'd need for our trip to Cape Verde and when I finally left at quarter to seven, I was worn out.

* * *

I sat on a bench on the pier waiting for Jane/Heidi to show up, and I'd gone from being nervous to being pissed off. I didn't know what game this girl was playing, but I wanted answers, and I intended to get them.

"Dr. Swan," Heidi called out in greeting as she walked toward me.

I gave her a small wave as I stood up to greet her.

"Hello, Jane," I greeted before gesturing for her to sit down on the bench with me.

"I was surprised to get your call. Since our last meeting didn't go so well, I figured I'd never hear from you again. Although, I would have contacted you once the article came out."

So, she was sticking with her story that she was an anthropology student, doing an interview for the campus newspaper. That just made me angrier, and I had to rein in my temper, but it was time to take the gloves off.

"Except that you aren't writing an article, are you?"

"W-w-what do you mean?" she stuttered.

"I mean that the University of Florida doesn't have a Jane Alec listed as an anthropology student or as a student at all. Then again, your name isn't Jane Alec, is it?"

Heidi's face paled as she stared at me, and when she made to move, I reached out and took hold of her arm. I didn't grab her hard, but I wasn't about to let her go until I got some answers.

"I'd suggest you stay right there, Heidi Caius."

"How did you know?" she asked, fear etched on her face.

"You looked familiar, but I couldn't put my finger on why. I had a friend do some research on you yesterday, and low and behold, you're the daughter of the man that killed my father," I spat out.

"It was accident," she sputtered, and I let out a harsh laugh.

"Is that what he told you? That it was an accident that my father's tank ran out of oxygen. That my father, a man who had been diving for over twenty years, would have been so careless as to not double and triple check his oxygen tanks? The coast guard found evidence that the hose line had been punctured. Your father was the only other person in the water with my father, and he admitted to killing my dad. He admitted it!"

She was shaking her head, tears streaming down her face and doing her best to ignore what I was saying, but I wasn't done talking.

"In order to escape, your father shot my friend, a twenty-year-old boy who hadn't done anything wrong. He shot him so that he could escape and get away with murder. Of course, he also threated to kill all of us. Do you know why?"

Heidi didn't answer nor did I expect her to.

"He killed my dad because he figured out that Marcus had planted some evidence at a dig site while we were looking for the _Sirène_. Your dad wanted that shipwreck and its prized possession, the Treasured Heart, and he was willing to do whatever it took to keep everyone else away from finding the real site."

Heidi's face was void of color as she stared at the ground, wiping away the tears that had fallen.

"Your father is a murderer, and he will pay for his crimes. I need to know where he is."

Her whole body seemed to crumble as she told me she didn't know where he was. She said that he'd taken off when she was ten, after her parents got divorced, and she rarely saw him.

"I get the occasional phone call or email from him, but I'm lucky if I see him once a year. The only reason I knew about your dad was because I overheard my dad talking to someone on the phone about it six months ago. I confronted him, asking him if he'd killed someone, and he told me no, but that there had been an accident."

She paused for a few moments, sniffling as she wiped away more tears.

"In his phone call, he mentioned a Charlie and Bella Swan, so I did some digging on the internet and found out that you lived and worked here in Miami. I've been planning this trip for months, booking and unbooking my flight over and over again."

I didn't want to believe her, but there was so much open honesty on her face that as much as I hated it, I knew she was telling the truth.

"Why did you want to talk to me?"

"I wanted to get your side of the story," she said, staring down at the ground. "I want to find out the truth."

"You aren't going to like what you hear," I warned her, and she told me she knew that.

"I just …" she trailed off. "I just want to know the truth. I don't want to believe that my dad is capable of murdering someone, but he has a horrible temper, and he's obsessed with that stupid brooch."

"He's still looking for it?" I asked her sharply.

She nodded her head, and I asked her if she'd be willing to come back to the Poseidon office with me. I promised to explain what had happened on that horrible day, but I also wanted to glean as much information from that I could about her father and his obsession.

"Yeah, okay," she agreed just as her phone rang. She stared down at it, worry etched on her face.

"Uh, I have to take this. It's my mom. She thinks I'm in California, visiting my cousins."

I sat there, typing away on my phone to Jasper and Rose, as Heidi spoke on the phone to her mother. Needless to say, her mother was very angry with her daughter and told her to stay put because she was going to fly out to Miami to get her and bring her home.

"Um, she wants to talk to you," Heidi said, holding out her phone, but I was hesitant to take it mainly because I didn't want to get involved in their family drama. Then again, I guess I was technically already involved in it since her father had killed mine.

"This is Dr. Swan," I said.

"Dr. Swan, I am so sorry," Heidi's mother said. "I had no idea she'd run off to Florida so that she could bother you."

The woman paused for a moment, a heavy, weary sigh leaving her.

"Ever since she overheard that asshole on the phone, she's become obsessed with finding out the truth about him. I've warned her time and time again to leave it alone. Marcus is a dangerous man, and if I could stop her from seeing him or even talking to him, I would."

"I've booked a flight, and I'll be arriving tonight. I know it's not your place, and I hate to ask it of you, but could you please keep her with you?"

"I can do that," I told her. "She's coming to our office in a few minutes so that we can really talk about what happened."

The woman and I talked for a few more minutes, and after I gave her the address to Poseidon, I handed the phone back to Heidi.

"Yes, ma'am," Heidi said a few minutes later before hanging up the phone.

"Shall we?" I asked standing up, and she nodded her head.

I motioned to Jasper, who had been sitting a few benches over, and he followed us back to the parking lot.

Twenty minutes later, Heidi, Jasper, and I were sitting in the conference room, and I was telling her my story.

I didn't hold back. I gave her all the gory details, told her how I felt seeing my father lying there, and how scared I was when Marcus had shot Edward before threatening to kill the rest of us.

"Oh, God," Heidi muttered, looking pale and sickly.

"He really did it, didn't he? It wasn't an accident?"

I told her that he had indeed killed my dad and that no, it wasn't an accident. Then I began asking my own questions. I wanted to know where she'd last seen him, when she'd last talked to him, what she'd overheard him say and to whom he had said it.

While I was doing that, Jasper left the room to call his sister, Maria, who was a FBI agent located here in Miami. Even though my dad was killed in international waters, it was onboard a boat registered in the United States, meaning the U.S. Coast Guard and the FBI had jurisdiction.

"My father was living in Barcelona last I checked. I mean, that's where I visited him six months ago. He was working at a bank or something," Heidi said just as Jasper came back into the room.

"Heidi, my sister works for the FBI. They are the ones who are handling the murder case of Charlie Swan, and she wants to come and ask you some questions regarding your father," Jasper said, and Heidi stared at him.

"Okay?" she said, seeming unsure.

"Why don't we hold off on asking any more questions until she gets here," Jasper suggested, and I nodded my head.

"Are you hungry or thirsty?" he asked her before letting her know that we had some vending machines as well as coffee in the breakroom.

"I could use a soda," Heidi said, and Rose took her down to the breakroom.

"Maria will be here in about twenty to twenty-five minutes," Jasper told me.

"I have a feeling that no matter what Heidi tells us, Marcus Caius is never going to be caught. He's been a free man for the past fifteen years, and he's obviously good at hiding. I was told his name was entered into Interpol, but they apparently didn't know he was living in Spain."

"I know, Bella, but I'm hopeful Heidi will have some information to give to Maria who can help out."

"God, I hope so," I muttered, letting my head fall into my hands.

"What a week, huh?" Jasper said with a small smile.

"Yeah," I agreed.

* * *

 **a/n: Tada! As many of you guessed, Jane is Marcus' daughter. You all get gold stars! So, let me know what you thought about the chapter, and I'll see you next week!**


	9. Chapter 9

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading/reviewing! I just love getting those alerts in my inbox telling me a review has been left.**

 **I do hope everyone's had a good weekend. I went to Heroes and Villains Fan Fest in Chicago yesterday and got a photo op with John Barrowman (Doctor Who, Torchwood, and Arrow) and Stephen Amell (Arrow). You can see the pic on my twitter (handle is bookwormeg) or my Instagram (zimphella) if you're interested.**

 **As always, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for putting up with me and my lack of commas.**

 **Now, on you go!**

* * *

Thirty minutes later, Maria arrived with her partner, Peter, and they got down to business right away, pulling out a tape recorder and a small file.

"Is that my father's case?" I asked, gesturing toward the manila folder.

Peter nodded his head as he opened it up.

I could see pictures of my father's body, pictures of Edward, and several pages of typed notes which I assumed were statements taken from Esme, Carlisle, Edward, and me as well as any notes the coast guard might have made.

"For the record, I'm FBI Agent, Peter Charlotte, along with my partner, Maria Whitlock. We are here regarding the investigation into the murder of Charles Swan. It is alleged that Mr. Swan was murdered on August 14, 2002, onboard the _Breaking Dawn_ by Marcus Caius," Peter said for the tape recorder.

"We are here with Jasper Whitlock, chief biologist for the Poseidon Marine Exploration Group, Rosalie Hale, computer specialist for Poseidon, Bella Swan, daughter of Charles Swan, witness, and maritime archeologist for Poseidon, and Heidi Caius, daughter of alleged murder suspect, Marcus Caius. Let's begin."

He asked us all to state our names, once more, as well as to agree that we were speaking of our own free will.

Agent Charlotte started with Jasper and Rose, asking them questions about the shipwreck and what they knew about Marcus Caius. It wasn't much, but Rose told them all that she had learned, leaving out, of course, how she'd learned it.

Once the agents were done speaking with them, Agent Charlotte turned to me, and I took a deep breath. I hated talking about what had happened on the _Breaking Dawn,_ but I'd already done it once today, so what was once more.

I started at the beginning, recalling it as if it had happened yesterday. I told them how I'd been woken up by shouts of panic and how I'd seen my father lying lifelessly on the deck. I told them how Caius had tried to play it off as an accident, but we'd all seen through it.

"What happened next, Bella?" Agent Whitlock asked.

"Marcus ran toward his boat which was tied together with ours, and Edward—"

"Edward Cullen?" Agent Charlotte asked.

"Yes, Edward Cullen tackled him to try and keep him from leaving while Carlisle went to find some rope to tie Marcus up so that he couldn't leave before the coast guard arrived. That was when Marcus shot Edward. He shot him in the stomach and then threatened to kill all of us if we didn't let him leave. Esme and Carlisle had no choice. Their son was bleeding to death on the deck. They had to let Marcus leave, and he's never been caught," I said, anger evident in my voice.

Both agents jotted down some notes before they turned to Heidi who was beside me and looked scared to death.

"How did you get involved in of all of this?" Agent Whitlock asked, and Heidi explained she'd overheard her father saying Charles Swan's death had been an accident and how no one was supposed to be killed.

"I confronted him, asking him who Charles Swan was and why he was dead, but he wouldn't answer me. He told me it was none of my business, but something about his attitude told me there was more to the story."

"Do you know whom he was talking to?" Agent Charlotte asked.

"Some guy named Felix," she told us. "He and my dad used to talk all the time. He even came over to the house a few times when I was little. Mom hated him though, and she told Dad that Felix wasn't allowed over anymore."

"Can you describe him to us?" Whitlock asked, and Heidi said she could do one better; she could draw him.

Jasper slid over a pad of paper and a pen, and soon enough, there was a sketch of this Felix guy.

"Holy sh—" Agent Charlotte said as he stared at the picture before grabbing it along with his phone and booking it out the door, the phone to his ear.

"What was that?" I asked, and Jasper's sister looked over at me as she shook her head.

"I'm not sure. Charlotte and I have only been partners for about three months. It could be someone from his white collar days."

Agent Charlotte was gone from the room for a good twenty minutes, and when he came back in, he apologized as he took his seat.

"This," he said, holding up the sketch, "is Felix Voltaire. He's wanted for embezzling over twenty million dollars and for money laundering. The white collar division was first alerted to him in 1980. We almost caught him in '84, but he went underground. We got another tip in 2005, but it didn't lead to anything."

"I'm going to pull the records from your father's phone and see who he's been in contact with," Charlotte explained to Heidi before asking her to jot down all the information she had on her father: his last known address, his email address, and his phone number.

By the time we'd gone over all of the information with the agents that Heidi had written down, we'd been in the conference room for close to three hours.

"What time is your mom arriving?" I asked Heidi, and she looked at the time on her phone before answering.

"Her plane lands in fifteen minutes," she answered.

Both agents wanted to stick around and talk to Jane Caius and see if she knew anymore about her ex-husband's whereabouts as well as to find out what she knew about Felix Voltaire.

"Well, let's order something to eat while we wait," Rose suggested, and we all agreed that pizza would be the easiest.

Not long after the pizza arrived, so did Heidi's mother who was escorted up to our floor by Rose.

"Heidi Joan Caius! What the hell were you thinking? I don't care how old you are, you don't lie to your mother about where you're going. What if something had happened to you? I wouldn't have had any idea!"

Heidi hung her head as her mother berated her, and she mumbled an apology as her mother wrapped her up in a hug.

"Now, what exactly is going on here?" Jane asked, turning to look at all of us.

It took some time to explain everything to her, and she was horrified to learn that Marcus had killed someone, but she said she wasn't all that surprised.

"He has a violent temper. It was the main reason why I divorced him. I couldn't take the abuse nor the threats anymore. Thankfully, he didn't fight me when I filed for divorce."

"Do you have any idea where he is?" I asked, and she shook her head.

"Thankfully, no. As long as it's far away from me, I don't care where he is."

Agent Charlotte asked her about Felix Voltaire, and man, did Jane Caius have a lot to say about him. She told the agents everything she could about him which was actually quite a lot. She gave them the names of mutual acquaintances, ex-wives, ex-girlfriends, and kids'. Jane held nothing back.

Another hour later, the agents had what they needed and told us they'd be in touch.

"What's the most affordable hotel in this area?" Jane asked as she stood up alongside her daughter.

"There's a Marriott across the waterway," Jasper told her. "Everything around here is gonna cost upwards of three-fifty a night."

It only took a few minutes for Jane to book a hotel room for the night, and Jasper offered to drop the two of them off, but Jane told him she'd just take a cab.

"I'm sorry about your father, Dr. Swan," she told me as we all walked out of the building a few minutes later. "I didn't know that Marcus had murdered anyone. If I had, I would never have married him."

"It's not your fault. I just hope the authorities can find him, especially since we're going to be looking for the _Sirène._ "

"Is that the shipwreck that supposedly has that damn ruby brooch?" she asked with narrowed eyes.

"Yes, it is. We've been hired by the French government to recover the wreckage and salvage anything we can from it."

"Marcus was obsessed with finding that brooch. God, he would spend hours poring over websites and doing research in hopes of finding it. He would get stars in his eyes when he talked about how much money it was worth and what he'd do with the money if he found it. He was convinced that he would."

"I wish you the best of luck, Dr. Swan," she said, and I waved goodbye to them as their cab pulled away from the curb.

"Jesus, I need a drink or ten," I muttered, and Jasper agreed.

I said goodnight and made my way toward my truck. Not too much later, I was climbing the stairs to my condo, carrying a grocery bag filled with Oreos and Little Debbie snack cakes. I needed to drown my stress in sugary goodness.

After a quick shower, I got comfy on my couch with a blanket over me, my tablet on the coffee table, and the Oreos and snack cakes within reach.

I turned on Netflix and found one of my favorite movies, _The Emperor's New Groove_ , and got lost in the world of Emperor Kuzco.

I was busy scarfing down a couple of Oreos when my tablet pinged, and I saw that I had an email from Edward, saying to Skype him as soon as I could.

Immediately, I opened my Skype and sent the call to Edward, not knowing if he was near his laptop or not.

Moments later, he answered, and he looked as rough as I felt.

"Hey," I said, giving him a tired smile, and he did the same to me.

"So what's going on? Your email had me worried."

I let out a heavy sigh before I spent the next hour, telling him about everything that had happened with Heidi, all of it from her being Marcus' daughter to the FBI getting involved.

"Wait, Jasper's sister is an FBI agent?" he asked, and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, it was news to me as well. I didn't even know he had a sister. He's never mentioned her before, so it could be they aren't close."

"Huh, so, what happens now?"

"It's in the hands of the FBI. They said they'll keep me informed as to how their investigation progresses, but I guess life goes on as normal for now. Speaking of which, are you going to be joining us in Cape Verde?"

"That's my plan," he told me, and my heart lifted at hearing those words. I'd loved getting to really know him over Skype, emails, and texts these past few weeks, but it would be nice to be in the same place as him once more.

"We've salvaged most of the ship, so we should be finishing up here by the end of the week. I'll be flying straight into Casablanca and helping the crew get supplies as well as familiarizing myself with the research vessel that we're renting."

"Did Jasper tell you that it's going to be a bit of a bare bones crew in regards to the scientists?"

"Yeah, he mentioned that only seven of you are coming unless the others pay their own way. They don't want to shell out the money, yet they want the work done right and with less people."

"Exactly! We need the whole team on this, especially if Jasper is right this time and The _Sirène_ is really there."

"Well, maybe if we do find it, Poseidon will approve more funding for the rest of the team to fly to Morocco."

"Maybe," I agreed before asking him how he was doing because he looked tired and worn out.

"I'm exhausted. I've been on high alert for the past week since we got a report that there were pirates out this way."

"Jesus! That's some scary shit."

"Hell, yeah it is. I've never encountered pirates before, and I don't really want to start now. Especially not out here. We're a hundred miles off shore, and the only weapons onboard the ship are a flare gun and an old pistol that looks like it's from World War I."

"Please, stay safe," I begged, and he told me that he'd do his best.

"So, what else is going on? Tell me something good," he said.

"Um …" I trailed off because I couldn't think of anything.

"Really? Nothing good has happened?"

"Rose and Emmett are finally dating," I told him.

"It's about time," he said, and I snorted in agreement. It truly had been about time.

We spent another hour talking, and I reminded him that by this time next week, we'd be on the boat together. We both agreed that we couldn't wait.

* * *

 **a/n: And look at that! They'll be back together soon!**


	10. Chapter 10

**A/N: Hello! I hope you all had a great weekend! Thanks so much for reading and/or reviewing the last chapter! As always, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her amazing beta skills.**

 **So, this chapter is a bit long, so off you go!**

* * *

"Welcome to Casablanca, Morocco," the pilot said as the plane landed on the runway. "The current time is 10:19 AM with a temperature of 73 degrees. Enjoy your stay."

God, I couldn't wait to get off the fucking plane. Fourteen hours on a plane was too long, and we were all ready to leave the confined space and get our feet on land.

As soon as we deboarded, the seven of us, Jasper, Alice, Rose, Dr. Tanner, Jessica, Emmett, and myself, caught a taxi van to the pier where the research vessel was docked.

Fifteen minutes later, we were walking up the gangplank of the _Arrakis_ , and I was greeted by a wonderful sight. Edward stood on the deck, his bronze colored hair blowing in the breeze and his green eyes covered by a pair of sunglasses.

"Welcome aboard, guys!" he shouted over the wind, and we all shouted greetings back to him.

God, I wanted to run up the plank and toss my arms around him in a hug, but I restrained myself. Instead, I gave him a huge smile, and the smile I got back had me melting inside.

"Let me show you around," Edward said, and we all followed him below deck.

The staterooms were pretty big, but there weren't quite enough for everyone to have their own rooms when you counted the ship's crew and the rooms that were going to be used for various offices, so Dr. T and I agreed to bunk together for the meantime.

"When are we leaving?" Jessica asked him after he'd finished giving us the tour, her eyes raking over him, and I gritted my teeth.

"In a few hours," he responded, his eyes never leaving mine. "Get yourselves settled in, grab a bite to eat from the galley, and I'll let you know when we're about to take off."

As soon as he left, Rose whirled around and looked at me, a smirk on her face.

"Oooh, girl, you've got it bad!" she teased, and I felt my face flush as I shook my head and denied what she was saying.

"He's got it just as bad," Jessica said, and I gaped at her. "What? He does. He barely looked at me, but he couldn't keep his eyes off of you. There's a history there."

"You know the story," I told her. "We met when I was sixteen and he was twenty. He spent most of that trip, not talking to me or being a jerk when he did."

"And then he almost died," Rose interrupted, and I nodded my head.

"Yep. After that, I kept in contact with his parents, mainly his mom, but he and I hadn't seen nor spoken to each other until I saw him onboard the _Brizo_."

"Maybe so, but you guys sure are talking now," Rose said with a glint in her eye. "He texts you, calls you, Skype's with you, and emails you all the time. You're practically dating."

"Hardly," I snorted.

"Go on," Jess said with a nod of her head toward the doorway. "You know you want to go talk to him."

Oh, I tried to deny it, but Jess and Rose along with Dr. Tanner told me to scoot, so I did. I raced down the hall at a quickened pace until I reached the stairs going up to the deck. Not wanting to trip and hurt myself, I slowed down and did my best to act cool and nonchalant, but I was pretty sure I wasn't fooling anyone.

Once on the deck, I looked around for Edward, spotting him talking to a young man on the starboard side. Not wanting to interrupt him, I wandered over to the other side of the deck and took a good look out at the harbor and then at the city, or what I could see of it.

I would have loved to explored Casablanca for a little bit, but that wasn't why we were there.

"Have you ever been here before?" Edward's voice asked from right beside me, and I turned to look up at him.

"Nope. It looks nice, but I'm not sure I'm properly attired to go wandering around the city," I told him, gesturing toward my clothes. At the moment, I was wearing jeans and a white tunic-styled shirt, but most of the clothes I brought were shorts and t-shirts with the occasional jacket and hoodie in my bag.

"Maybe once we get back, we can take a look around," he suggested, and I told him I'd like that.

"It's good to see you again, Bella," he said a few moments later, giving my shoulder a squeeze, and I felt a cheesy grin cross my face as I told him I was glad to see him, too.

Before I could say anything else, the skies opened up and rain poured down, drenching us in a matter of seconds.

"Shit!" I yelled as Edward let out a laugh. I wasn't laughing because I was wearing a white shirt which was fairly see through now that it was wet.

Crossing my arms over my chest, I dashed below deck and into the stateroom I was sharing. Thankfully, it was empty, and I quickly changed out of my soaking wet clothes and into some dry ones before stopping in the galley to grab a snack.

Edward was in there, having changed as well, and he gave me a naughty smirk that had my stomach dancing with butterflies.

"Not a word, Cullen," I said, knowing he'd seen the hot pink bra I'd been wearing.

"I don't know what you're talking about, Swan," he countered as he sipped a cup of coffee, and I narrowed my eyes at him. He wasn't fooling me for a second.

"Meeting!" Jasper yelled from somewhere down the hall, and the moment between us was broken.

Snagging my own cup of coffee, I followed Edward down to the small conference room where Jasper had everyone gathered.

"Pink looks good on you," Edward whispered, and I whirled around and stared at him as he gave me a wink. Before I could reply, Jasper began the meeting where introductions were given to the crew members and to us before Jasper outlined his plan.

"Dr. Black and Dr. Newton will be joining us in a week."

Jess and I both scowled upon hearing that news. I didn't want to spend months, trapped on a ship with Jacob Black, and Jess sure as hell didn't want to spend that much time with her ex-husband. Poor girl already had to do that on the last expedition. At least, Lauren wasn't here on this one.

I could feel Edward's eyes on me, and when I looked over at him, he mouthed _what's wrong_? I shook my head, indicating we'd talk about it later.

"Okay, folks!" Jasper said. "Let's get this show on the road."

And with those words, our expedition had officially begun. I knew I needed to meet with Dr. Tanner in one of the research rooms, and I was on my way to do just that when Edward reached out and gently grabbed my arm.

"Follow me to the wheelhouse?" he asked, and I did.

Once in there, he gave instructions to a couple of guys that were on the crew to untie the boat while he raised the anchor.

"So, what was that all about?" he asked me, and I knew he was talking about the face I made in regards to Jacob Black.

"Jacob Black asked me out a while back, and I turned him down. Since then, he's asked me a few more times. It seems he can't take a hint," I explained, and Edward's green eyes darkened until they were almost black.

"If he bothers you once he's on board, you come to me. I'll take care of it," he said, his voice taking a menacing tone, and holy hell, it was hot.

"I can take care of myself," I told him.

"I'm not doubting that, but Black is taller and stronger. I mean it, Bella. If he becomes a problem, I want to know about it. I might not have the right to fire him, but as captain of this ship, I will remove him if he's a threat to anyone on board. Now, what about Newton?"

"He's Jessica's ex-husband and a lying, cheating, dirt bag. He cheated on her with Lauren, the girl that was on the last trip. Needless to say, things between Jessica and Mike are tense."

"I'll be keeping an eye on him as well," he muttered.

"Thanks," I told him, and he nodded.

"Time for me to get this ship moving. Come visit when you can."

I promised I would as I made my way below deck and to the research room Dr. Tanner has claimed as ours.

"Leaving port for the coast of Sal, Cape Verde. It will take roughly four days, so get comfortable," Edward's voice said over the com.

* * *

It had been a long four days on the ship, but we were finally nearing our destination, and Jasper was busy convening in the wheel house with Edward.

"Are you ready for this?" Jessica asked me as I leaned against the railing, the spray of the ocean hitting me and the wind whipping my hair into a mess.

"Yeah, 'm ready to find the _Sirène_ and be done with it."

"Do you think we'll find the Treasured Heart?"

"I don't know if we'll find it, and I'm not sure I want to find it. That piece of jewelry cost my father his life and almost cost Edward his. On the one hand, it would be nice to find it, hand it over to the French government, and know that it's somewhere safe, but on the other hand, it would be fine with me if it stayed lost forever. However, the problem with that is that people like Marcus Caius will never stop looking for it and will go to any lengths to get it in their greedy hands."

"Well, maybe we'll get lucky and find it."

"Maybe," I replied as the ship began to slow down, and a few minutes later, Edward announced over the intercom that he was dropping anchor.

"Emmett! Get the drones ready!" I heard Jasper yell, and Emmett, who had been standing near the bow of the ship, rushed to get his underwater drones ready, a huge grin on his face.

"Time to get to work, ladies," Jasper said as he motioned for us to follow him down below.

All seven of us crammed into the room that Emmett and Rose had setup as a base of operations with six monitors hooked up as well as five laptops and a handful of tablets.

"Sea Drone One in the water," Emmett said into the laptop's microphone that was recording every move his drone made.

With the tablet in his hand, he maneuvered the first drone along the sea floor.

"How far out can this go before you lose the signal?" I asked him.

"About a hundred miles," he said, and I stared at him in disbelief.

"Seriously?"

He nodded as he informed me that he'd tweaked them since we'd gotten back from our trip to the British Virgin Islands.

"Oh, Bells, Dr. T, I wrote a program that maps your grids out for you. Two by two meters, just how you like it. The map is connected to Em's drone so when it's gone two meters it sends a message to my laptop and marks it on my map," Rose said.

That was seriously fucking cool, and I told her so as did Dr. T. If Emmett's drone ended up covering up to a hundred miles, we'd now have a record of which areas of the ocean floor had debris or possible artifacts, and that would make our job so much easier when it came time to dive.

"Get comfortable, guys," Emmett said. "This could take a while. Rose, can you do me a favor and put the second drone in the water?"

"Okay, but who's going to control it?" she asked.

"You are," was Emmett's reply, and that, right there, told me that Emmett was in love with Rose. He didn't let anyone touch his drones, much less control them.

A few minutes later, the second underwater drone was in the water, connected to the program that Rose had written, and she began to control the drone.

After an hour, nothing had been found, and I was slowly going insane being cramped in a room with so many people. I needed out, so I excused myself for a few minutes. I used the bathroom, grabbed a snack, and went up top to catch some fresh air.

"Find anything, yet?" Edward asked from where he was standing, puffing on a cigar.

I wrinkled my nose at the smell of his cigar as I shook my head.

"Not yet. I'm going back down in a few. With two drones in the water, we should hopefully find something. That's two hundred miles of ocean floor that we're able to cover."

"No shit?"

"Yeah, Emmett's a fucking genius. I wouldn't be surprised if the Navy didn't come calling, asking him to build them prototypes or something."

"Well, let me know if you guys find something," he said.

"You'll probably hear Alice's squeals all the way up here if we do."

He barked out a laugh at that as I walked away and went back to the tiny computer room.

I sat down in the chair I'd been using earlier and stared at the screens surrounding us. Sand, fish, shells, and the occasional octopus was all I could see.

And that's how it went for the next hour until Emmett's drone, which was about forty miles north of our current location, stumbled upon a shipwreck.

"Found something!" he boomed, and my head snapped up to look at his monitors. Sure enough, there on the screens was the bow of a ship. The rest of the ship was missing, but there was the front of the ship, buried in the sand and surrounded by fish, rocks, and debris.

"Can you see the ship's name?" Jasper asked, leaning forward to get a closer look at the ship on the screen.

Emmett carefully maneuvered the drone closer to the hull, but we couldn't see a name on the side. Granted, part of the ship's hull was buried in the sand, so we were definitely going to have to excavate it.

"Should I continue on or bring the drone back?" Em asked Jasper, and he looked over at the rest of us.

"What do you guys think?"

"Keep searching," I said. "Rose's computer program has marked this spot, and I've jotted down that there's a bow of a ship there, but we need to find the rest of the ship."

"Agreed," said Dr. Tanner.

Five miles west of the bow, we found the remainder of the ship. It was in pieces, like it had been hit by a bomb, and I wondered if that wasn't exactly what had happened or maybe a cannonball had been responsible for the damage. Hell, a hurricane could have ripped it apart, but we'd have to get down there to really find out what happened.

Emmett and Rose circled out of that area up to twenty miles, but nothing else was found, so we decided that half of us would investigate the bow and the other half would investigate the stern.

"Bella, why don't you lead the dive of the bow?" Dr. Tanner suggested, and I eagerly accepted.

Jasper called up to the wheelhouse to let Edward know where he needed to move the ship, and while we sailed the forty miles, the rest of us sat down and came up with a plan.

"Emmett, are you able to dive with us?" Jasper asked a little while later, but Em didn't look too thrilled with the idea.

"I can, but I'm not the greatest diver in the world, and I've never excavated before."

"I can go if you need another hand," Edward suggested from the hallway, and I was startled by his offer. He didn't like diving either.

"I need you here to captain the ship should something happen," Jasper said, but Edward told him that Bandar, the first mate of the ship, was capable of handling the _Arrakis_ should it be needed.

"Are you sure, Edward?" I asked quietly, and he looked me straight in the eye as he nodded. I understood his need to be a part of this especially if this was the _Sirène_. He was just as invested in this as I was.

Jasper considered it for a moment, asking the rest of us if we had a problem with Edward diving with us. Of course, none of us did because we all knew Edward was an experienced diver despite not being a huge fan.

Twenty minutes later, we were suited up in our diving gear with bags, knives, and flashlights attached to our diving belts.

Rose and Emmett, along with the five crew members would keep an eye on the ship and help pull aboard any items we sent up to the surface.

Alice, Edward, and I were going to investigate the bow of the ship while Jasper, Jessica, and Dr. Tanner would take an inflatable boat five miles over to the stern of the ship. Riley, one of the crew members, would stay on the inflatable and be in constant contact with them as well as the main ship.

"Ready?" I asked, a grin on my face and then I rolled backwards off the small platform at the stern of the boat.

Soon, the three of us were swimming down to the hull of the ship, and I took a moment to take it all in and then pulled out my camera, snapping picture after picture. I'd given Alice the video camera so that she could film what we did.

I spent far more time than I should have just taking photographs, but even if this wasn't the _Sirène_ , it would still need to be excavated by someone if we didn't do it.

Once that area of photographs were taken, I made my way down to the ocean floor that a part of the bow was buried. With Edward and Alice's help, we were able to move some sand away. I hoped that we'd be able to find the figurehead which would tell us what ship this was. Chances were pretty damn good that the name wasn't painted anywhere on the boat. It looked to be pretty old, and I was guessing that it was from around the same time period as the _Sirène_.

"Look for the figurehead," I said over my communications unit. "That will tell us what ship this is."

We fanned out, each taking a gridded area that we were marking with string, and while I hadn't managed to find the figurehead, I had found a bunch of pottery pieces that looked like they were from a bowl or plate.

"I've got a coin!" Alice's excited voice said over the unit.

"Record your find before picking it up and putting it in your bag," I told her right before she exclaimed that she'd found a few more.

"I've got a bottle," Edward said. "You still collect them?"

"Yeah, I do," I answered, a silly grin covering my face because he'd remembered.

"I'll photograph it before putting it in the bag," he promised.

All too soon, it was time to return to the surface. We had found some artifacts, and I was excited to show them off to the rest of the team.

"Riley's on his way back with Jasper, Jess, and Dr. T," Rose said as she took the bag I was holding out to her.

"Find something?" she asked, and I grinned as I told her that we'd all found something.

While we waited for the other team to arrive, I took the bags and set them near a table with a sink attached. It would be used to gently clean the sand off the items and to wash them.

Ten minutes after we'd arrived back on the ship, the other team arrived, grins on their faces and bags in their hands.

It seemed as though we'd all had some luck, and as soon as Jasper, Jessica, and Dr. Tanner were onboard, we all began babbling and talking over one another about our finds. We were acting like giddy teenagers.

"Okay, so let's sort out what we've got," I said in a loud voice because we needed some sort of order.

"Coins and metals on this table," I said, pointing to a table to the right of me. "Woods and pottery over here, and jewelry and personal stuff on the far left."

One at a time, we all opened our respective bags and began to place the objects we'd found on the designated table on which the item belonged.

Once we were done, we discovered we had found quite a bit of stuff, and I couldn't wait to delve into it.

Dr. T took over the coin and medal table. She had Jessica rinsing the coins while she photographed and catalogued the items on the tablet Rose had brought over.

While Dr. T was doing that, I was looking over the pottery table, seeing we had several partial plates as well as a couple of forks.

It took several hours before everything was washed, photographed, and catalogued, but I loved every minute of it. This was what I lived for. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed diving and excavating, but cataloging and research were what I loved the most. I loved figuring out what was laid out before me.

"The coins are definitely French," Dr. Tanner said, handing me one, and looked it over, seeing it was silver coin with a portrait of King Louis XV on it. Turning it over, I saw an urn with smoke on the back and the words Superis Non Gratior Usus along the edge of the coin. Below the urn were the words Menus Plaisirs et Affaires De La Chambre 1739.

"Regarding the use of grace," I said, tracing the words along the ridge. "At least, that's what I think that means. My Latin is a bit rusty."

"Wait, it's Latin?" Emmett asked. "So, these aren't French coins?"

"No, they are French. Latin was an international language up until the 20th century," I mumbled as I continued to stare at the coin. My French wasn't very good, but I was positive that plaisirs meant pleasures, affaires was business, and chambre was bedroom.

"So, this bottom part says something about pleasures and business in the bedroom, or something like that," I said, grinning as Emmett let out a whoop.

"Anyway, these are definitely French coins," I said as Dr. Tanner handed me a few more. They were all in decent enough shape although they wouldn't fetch much in a coin market. I'd say a hundred bucks a piece at max.

"The time period on these fits to that of the ship's," Dr. Tanner said, and I nodded my head in agreement.

The three bottles that Edward had found looked to be from the 18th century, but I'd have to check with the bottle database that an archeologist had created years ago. Despite my bottle collection, I wasn't an expert on them; however, these dark green and brown bottles looked to be from the right time period.

Dr. Tanner and I spent the next few hours, going over every artifact that had been brought up. While we were doing that, Jess was studying the sand as well as the barnacles that had been gently scraped off some of the items.

"Take a break, and eat some dinner, yeah?" Edward asked from the doorway to our research room. Dr. T and I had moved to a separate room that we had set up to store the items after we had looked over each individual item.

"Huh?" I asked, looking up from my laptop and over at Edward.

"It's past eight. Let's grab some food."

I looked over at the clock on the wall, shocked to find that it was, indeed, eight. Time flew when I was knee deep in research. I took my reading glasses off and tossed them lightly onto the table before rubbing my eyes.

Standing up, I stretched a bit, feeling Edward's gaze on me, and when I looked over at him, he was smirking. I rolled my eyes at him, tugged down the hem of my shirt that had ridden up, and made my way toward him.

"You need to eat too, Dr. T," I commented, and she promised she would as soon as she was finished doing some research on a gold ring Jasper had found.

Figuring I'd better bring her something back from the galley, I followed Edward down the hallway toward the small kitchen and eating area.

"There's pot roast in the crockpot," he told me, and my stomach let out a loud rumble that had me blushing.

Moments later, I had a huge bowl full of pot roast and a couple of rolls in front of me, and I dug in. I hadn't realized how hungry I was until I started eating, and I didn't even care if I looked like a pig. I was starving.

"So, how's it going in there?" Edward asked me, taking a seat across from me with a slice of pie on a plate, and I knew I'd be having a slice later.

"Good," I told him after I swallowed some food. "We've got just about everything documented, but there's more down there, so we'll definitely take some more dives."

"Do you think that shipwreck is the _Sirène_?" he asked me.

"I don't want to say yes for sure, but it definitely fits the time period, according to the coins, flatware, and jewelry that has been found so far. Dr. T is researching a gold ring right now that she thinks is from around the 1750's. The _Sirène_ left France in 1756, so this could be her. Of course, we always assumed that she'd made it to Virgin Gorda Island and was sunk on her way back to France, but Jasper doesn't believe that's the case. He doesn't think she ever made it, and there are no records to indicate that she did."

"God, I hope this is the _Sirène_ so we can put it behind us once she's salvaged."

"I agree," I told him, sitting back in my chair, my belly now full of the wonderful pot roast I'd eaten.

* * *

 **a/n: All kinds of stuff going on in this chapter. Let me know what you thought!**


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N: As always, thank you all so much for reading and reviewing! So, camp nano is this month, and I'm already 3k words behind where I want to be. Meh. It happens, and I'll catch up. I am glad to say that I've just started chapter 21. I'm not sure how many chapters there are going to be. 25 maybe. We'll see.**

 **Anyway, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for her input and her grammatical fixings, of which I need often.**

* * *

"Holy fucking shit!" I shouted over my communication unit two days later. We'd spent as much time as we could everyday, excavating, and we'd found a ton of stuff but not the one thing we needed to identify the wreck.

We'd decided to concentrate on the bow of the ship for now, so all of us, minus Rose and Emmett, were in the water constantly searching and excavating. To help in the search for the figurehead, Emmett and Rose put out the underwater drones

"Guys! I think I found it!" I shouted again, staring down at the wooden figure buried in the sand. I could only see part of it, the water around me a bit murky, but I was positive it was a figurehead.

A few minutes later, I was surrounded by the rest of the team, and after taking pictures and making sure that Alice was recording it, we began to dig in the sand with our hands and small shovels.

It took almost twenty minutes to uncover, but we were well rewarded when we did.

"Holy fuck!" Jasper whispered in awe as we all stared at the figurehead. It was of a woman, her long hair half down and wearing a dress. It looked just like the drawing I'd seen, but I wasn't sure I could trust my eyes.

"Jasper? Is it her?" I asked, a quiver in my voice.

"Yeah," he said so quietly I almost didn't hear him.

"Whoohoo!" came Emmett's reply through our coms, and I felt a huge grin break across my face. We'd fucking found it!

Quickly, we formulated a plan to bring it aboard the ship. Thankfully, the ship we were using had originally been a crabbing ship, so it had a seven-foot tank built-in that could be filled with water. When bringing up wood that had spent so long under water, it would start to deteriorate once it began to dry out, so were going to have to put it in the tank almost immediately after bringing it up.

Three of us decided to stay in the water helping to secure the figurehead with some chains, so that Edward and his crew could haul it up out of the water.

It was going to be a delicate process since the figurehead weighed at least a hundred and fifty pounds and was extremely precious.

It took several hours and a few failed tries before we got the six and a half foot figurehead onto the ship ,and as soon as we did, Jasper, Jessica, Alice, and I climbed back onboard to get a real good look at it.

"Wow," I muttered because she was in way better shape than I thought she would be.

Jasper, still in his dive suit, raced off and came back moments later with his tablet. His hand shook as he turned it on and began to run his finger across the screen.

"Here she is," he said, holding up the tablet so we could see a sketch that had been done of the _Sirène_ along with its figurehead.

"Oh, God. It really is her," I said, sinking to the deck beside the figurehead. I didn't know how to feel. I was excited to finally have found the ship, but I was terrified of what it could mean. If Marcus Caius, who was still out there, got wind that we'd found the ship, we could all be in danger. Hell, out here, we were sitting ducks if pirates or other assholes with weapons came our way.

"Charlie would be thrilled to know you found it," Edward said softly as he knelt beside me.

I nodded my head, swiping at the tears that seemed to have come out of nowhere. Edward was right though. Dad would be ecstatic that we'd found the shipwreck.

"What about your dad? Are you going to tell him?" I asked Edward, and he let out a sigh as he pinched the bridge of his nose.

"I'll send him an email later," Edward told me as he stood up, holding out a hand which I took.

Taking a deep breath to steady myself and get my feelings in check, I grabbed my camera and began to snap pictures. I probably took a hundred pictures of the figurehead, but I wanted every detail captured on camera.

Once photographs were taken, the figurehead was measured and weighed before being gently placed in the tank filled with fresh water.

As soon as the figurehead was submerged in the fresh water, Dr. Tanner, Jessica, and I all climbed down into the tank to begin cleaning the wood. Jessica was collecting and gently removing all the barnacles and crustaceans, saving them so that she could study them later.

Because of the massive size of the figurehead, it was going to take weeks, possibly months, to get her clean, but I didn't mind.

We were, however, going to need the rest of our team out here as well as another research vessel. This was going to be a huge project and would require everyone's help, and I could hear Jasper on the phone with Poseidon now, telling them just that.

"God, she's beautiful," Dr. T said as we began to gently wipe away the years of sand that the figure had collected.

Her original paint was still on her, but it was cracked and faded, and I was honestly surprised to see it there. Hell, the whole thing about the figurehead surprised me. I'd only seen three in my career, and the one before us was in the best shape I'd seen which was amazing considering how old she was.

With gentle strokes, I used a soft rag and cleaned one spot at a time. Dr. Tanner and I worked side by side, focusing on one section. We were just going to do a general cleaning for now and would focus more on scrubbing her down and making her shine after we'd finished.

We worked for hours, until our hands were sore, and we were exhausted. With a tired sigh, I climbed out of the tank and onto the deck where I found Jasper, Alice, Rose, and Emmett all huddled over a table with a map of the ocean floor spread across it.

"We'll continue to do small daily dives, bringing up what we can until the rest of the crew arrives next week. They'll be flying into the Nelson Mandala Airport in Praia. Aro is sending another research vessel our way. It'll be coming to us via Barbados, so it's going to take a while to get to us."

"Who's captaining the other ship?" Edward asked from behind us.

"A guy named Seth Clearwater. He says he knows you."

A grin split across Edward's face.

"Hell, yeah. Seth is the one who got me my first captaining job. He's fucking awesome, and one hell of a guy. He'll definitely fit in around here."

"That's good to hear," Jasper replied. "I was once on an expedition with two captains who hated each other. It was a nightmare."

* * *

Two days later, Dr. T and I had made some progress on the figurehead; however, because there was still so much underwater to discover, I spent most of my days diving while she stayed aboard the ship and cleaned the figure or catalogued what we brought up. It worked out well for both of us, but all the diving and the long days were beginning to take their toll on me.

"Guys, you need to come up soon," Edward's voice said over our communication units. "There's a storm brewing, and it looks like it's going to hit us within the next forty minutes."

We finished up taking pictures and videotaping, gathered our bags with artifacts, and made our way up to the surface. Storms weren't something to mess around with especially on the open sea. We were hours away from safety should the storm turn bad, but I trusted Edward to let us know if we needed to abandon our spot and get to shelter.

Not too long after we'd climbed on board, the rain started to fall and thunder began to clap in the near distance.

I still hated storms at sea, but I tried not to let the others be aware of my phobia. You'd think after all these years of sailing, I'd be used to it, but I wasn't.

"You okay?" Edward asked as we all made our way inside, and I nodded my head as I gave him a hesitant smile.

"Are you sure? I know you're not a huge fan of storms," he said quietly.

"I'll be fine. Thank you, though," I told him as I stepped through the doorway and made my way below deck toward my room.

Jessica was busy typing away on her laptop while sitting on her bed, and Dr. T was quietly Skyping with her son. Not wanting to interrupt either of them, I grabbed my Kindle and made my way to the communal space that served as our living room.

I was okay for the first half hour until the storm picked up and the ship began to rock harder as the waves and the wind around us picked up.

Standing up, I clutched my Kindle tightly, my knuckles white against the device, and I began to make my way back toward my room.

I'd made it about halfway before the ship suddenly pitched to the right, and I lost my footing, falling into the wall and wincing as my shoulder smashed into it.

Thankfully, the ship straightened a few seconds later, and I let out a shaky sigh. I felt so stupid being terrified of a storm.

I wasn't sure why, but I found myself slowing making my way toward the wheelhouse, and I knocked on the door before I could stop myself.

"Enter!" Edward hollered, and I opened the door, apologizing for bothering him.

"You're never a bother, Bella," he said, standing up and walking toward me.

He shut the door and stared at me before asking me if I was okay.

"Not really," I admitted, holding out a hand to show him it was trembling.

He took my trembling hand in his and gave it a gentle squeeze.

"It's okay, Bella. The storm should be over soon," he said, and I nodded my head, but I wasn't feeling real assured.

All too soon, he let go of my hand, and I set my Kindle down on a small table, taking a deep breath before looking out the window.

God, I regretted it the second I did it. The waves looked incredibly violent as they rushed by, and my heart raced. I could feel my heartbeat thudding in my ears, and my breathing became labored.

Warm hands placed themselves on my shoulders, and I vaguely heard Edward telling me to look at him and to breathe.

It was a struggle to do as he said, but eventually I met his gaze, and I saw warmth and concern, staring back at me.

"Come here," he said, and I moved into his open arms, and I was soon wrapped up in a warm embrace.

I buried my face in his shirt, inhaling the wonderful smell that was Edward. He smelled like ocean, warmth, and just Edward.

I felt him place a kiss to the top of my head as he told me everything was going to be okay, and wrapped up in his arms, I believed him.

I clung to him as lightening flashed around us and thunder shook the ship, and he let me hold onto him.

"Too bad we don't have any movies to watch to distract us from the storm," he said quietly, and I smiled into his shirt.

"What movie was it that we were going to watch?" he asked, and I knew he was trying to keep me focused on him and not the storm raging outside.

"The _Emperor's New Groove_ ," I replied. "But we never did end up watching it."

"Yeah, that was it."

"I was so mad at you that night," I mumbled, and he pulled away from me, a frown on his face.

"Why?"

I shook my head, wishing I'd kept my mouth shut.

With my cheeks flushing, I told him that I'd thought, perhaps, he was trying to put the move on me, with him putting his arm around my shoulder, but he'd yanked it away as soon as he'd heard my dad's voice, and then he'd run off.

Now, it was his cheeks that turned pink, and he let out an embarrassed laugh.

"I totally was," he admitted, and my jaw dropped open at his confession. "I was twenty, Bella. I was a twenty-year-old college student who had no business, crushing on a beautiful sixteen-year-old brunette. Your dad's voice that night made me realize that I was treading in dangerous territory."

"You were crushing on me?" I asked, my voice filled with disbelief.

"Yeah."

"But—but you were an ass to me from the get go!"

"That's because I didn't want to get close to you," he explained, and I got it. It was the same premise used by grade school children, act mean to your crush so no one knows you're crushing on them.

"Huh, I never knew. Well, you weren't the only one with a crush that summer," I admitted as well.

"Oh, I know," Edward said with a grin, crossing his arms over his chest, and I stared at him, completely mortified over something that had happened even though it was fifteen years ago.

"You are a jerk," I said, poking him in the chest, and he chuckled.

"I certainly was back then. I'd like to think I've grown up a bit."

"Yeah, you have," I told him.

"So, do you still have a crush on me?" he asked.

"Do you still have one on me?" I countered, and a cocky smirk crossed his lips as he shrugged a shoulder.

"Maybe."

I rolled my eyes at him and turned away to look out the windows once more, but warm hands were suddenly on my upper arms, turning me to face him, and then his lips were against mine.

It was, hands down, the hottest kiss I'd ever had. It was deep and passionate, teeth nipping, and tongue stroking. It had me delving my hands into his hair and holding him close as he devoured my mouth, and it was amazing.

All too soon, he pulled away, and we were both panting from the force of the kiss as he rested his forehead against mine.

He opened his mouth, but I put a finger on his lips.

"Don't even think about apologizing," I told him. "I've wanted that kiss for a long time."

Once again, a smirk crossed his lips as he muttered he'd been thinking about kissing me ever since we'd seen each other again months ago.

Unable to resist him, I placed another kiss to his lips, and while I wanted to drown in it, I knew that this wasn't the time nor the place.

"Storm's calming down," Edward told me as he held me close.

"Thanks for distracting me," I told him, and I was rewarded with a warm laugh as he squeezed my waist.

"Any time. I mean that. Any time you want to be distracted, you just come see me," he said with a smirk.

I eagerly agreed and was about to say more when there was a knock on the door, and I backed away from Edward, straightening my clothes and running a hand through my hair.

Edward just smirked at me as he went to open the door.

"How's the storm looking?" Jasper asked, walking in but stopping when he saw me.

I pretended to be looking at my Kindle, but I wasn't sure I was fooling Jasper. Actually, judging by the look he was giving me, I wasn't fooling him at all.

"It's just about over. We should be in the clear in less than hour; however, there's another storm front that's a few days out. This is the rainy season here, so we may be in for a few more storms yet before it's done and over with," Edward told him, tapping on his weather radar instrument panel.

Jasper nodded before turning toward me.

"First thing in the morning, we need to assess the damage the storm may have done to our dig sites."

"I agree. Dr. T and I can check this one if you and Alice want to check the secondary location," I suggested, and Jasper agreed.

"All right, guys, get some sleep, yeah?"

Edward and I both nodded and watched as Jasper left.

"I probably should get some sleep," I said softly as I stared up at Edward.

"Probably. Mornings come too fucking early these days," he said before placing a sweet, chaste kiss to my lips.

"What about you?" I asked. "When are you going to sleep?"

He looked at his watch before answering me.

"In about two hours. Bandar is relieving me then," he told me, and I told him goodnight, making my way toward the door.

I made my way back to my room, only realizing once I was there that I'd left my Kindle in the wheelhouse.

"Where did you run off to?" Jessica asked from behind me in the hallway before following me into my stateroom.

"What are you, my mother?" I replied in a snarky tone, but the smile sneaking up on my face gave me away.

Jess watched me as I gathered my pajamas from the foot of my bed and rushed into the bathroom to change and perform my nightly ritual.

With my teeth brushed and my face washed, I came out and found Alice, Rose, Dr. Tanner, and Jessica all sitting on Dr. T's bed, staring at me.

"Oh no," I said, shaking my head. "We've got a long day ahead of us tomorrow, starting at the ass crack of dawn. We don't have time for interrogations."

The four of them sat there, silly smiles on their faces as they stared at me, and I did my best to ignore them as I pulled back the comforter and top sheet and climbed into my bed.

I could feel their eyes on me, and it was completely unnerving, but I knew the only way they would leave me alone was if I answered their questions.

"Fine. Ask your questions," I said with a huff as I flopped onto my back.

"Jasper said that you and Edward were alone in the wheelhouse and that something was obviously going on. So, what happened?" Alice asked, and I rolled my eyes.

"Not much," I replied. "He calmed me down during the storm, and we talked about some things that happened fifteen years ago."

"That's not all that happened," Rose said with a grin, and I looked at her with a blank face. I wasn't ready to kiss and tell until I talked to Edward.

"Maybe, maybe not," I answered before rolling over onto my side. "Goodnight, ladies."

They all groaned, even Dr. Tanner, but they left me alone after that.

* * *

 **a/n: Yay for Edward smooches! Leave me some love, and I'll see you next week.**


	12. Chapter 12

**A/N: Happy Easter (if that's your thing), or Happy Sunday, or Happy Day After Doctor Who Aired (which I found to be an excellent episode)! Thanks so much for the reading/reviewing last week's chapter! Warms my little heart! As always, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather!**

* * *

"Hey, hey, hey!" Mike Newton shouted as he came aboard the _Arrakis_. Jess rolled her eyes, and I was right there with her.

It had been four days since my first kiss with Edward, and while there had been a few more stolen kisses along the way, I knew that any chance of privacy was now gone. Five more people were being added to our crew, and even though the ship wasn't small, it also wasn't big enough to deal with Newton and Jacob Black and their egos

Speaking of the devil, Black stepped onto the deck with an arrogant look on his face, and I grimaced when he sauntered my way.

"You about ready to dive?" Edward asked from behind me, his hand resting on my lower back, and I bit the inside of my cheek to keep from grinning, knowing Edward's presence beside me was no coincidence.

"I am. Are you going with?" I asked him, completely ignoring Jacob as he stopped near us.

His eyes narrowed as he took in Edward's proximity to me. The rest of the crew had figured out that we were together or whatever it was we were. We hadn't discussed it, but I had let him know that I wasn't a one night stand kind of girl and that I'd break his balls if he cheated.

"Not this time. Now that the rest of your team is here, I'm back to just being the captain. Well, for now, anyway. Don't get me wrong. I'll help out however I can. If you need an extra set of hands to help clean that giant lady in the tank or you need someone to clean coins, just let me know."

"Thanks," I said leaning up to his kiss his cheek, and I saw Jacob's eyes darken and his fist clench out of the corner of my eye.

"Is the asshole with the staring problem the one you were telling me about?" Edward asked quietly, and I nodded my head.

"Yeah, that's Black. He's good at his job, but he's an arrogant jerk when it comes to women or at least when it comes to me."

Now it was Edward's eyes that darkened and his jaw clenched as he looked over at Black.

"Guess it's time to introduce myself to the newest team members," he said, and I touched his arm before he walked away.

"No idiotic, heroic antics, please? He's not worth fighting or losing your job over. I mean it, Edward," I warned because I wasn't fucking kidding. I could see the testosterone kicking into high gear and there was a definite tension in the air.

"Promise me, Edward!" I said sharply, and he muttered his promised.

Rolling my eyes at the maleness of it all, I waved to Lauren, Mike, Eric, and Angela before going to put on my dive gear.

After checking my equipment twice, a habit of mine especially after my father's death, I was ready to get into the water, but Jasper had other plans.

He called a quick meeting where he went over everything with the rest of our team that had just arrived and told them who would be working which site and what we needed done.

Jasper, having caught on to the tension between Edward and Jacob, assigned Black to the other dig site, and I thanked him quietly before diving into the water.

With the extra hands we now had, it made excavating the _Sirène_ , which we were almost one hundred percent positive it was, that much easier.

We'd collected over thirty different bottles, hundreds of coins, more shards of plates and various pottery than I knew what to do with, silverware, and plenty of nails and bolts.

The carbon dating of the ship would have to be done by Jacob on board the _Icarus_ , the ship that the other scientists would be staying on. The _Icarus_ was a lot more spacious. It was carrying less large equipment, and it had more staterooms.

We were in the water for well over eight hours, taking plenty of time to decompress before going back under, but I was ready to call it a night. This excavation was going to take months, and it wasn't going anywhere. Well, hopefully not. Sometimes strong waves due to storms could cause artifacts to be tossed along the seafloor and lost for eternity, and of course, there was the worry of pirates trying to take over our site, but I was more worried about storms than pirates.

"So, you're with that guy?" Jacob spat out as I was rinsing off on the deck shower.

"I am," I said, grabbing my towel that I'd tossed onto the railing and pushing my way past Jacob.

"Well, when you get tired of him, you know where to find me," he said, and I clenched my fist around my towel. I'd never wanted to hit another person as much as I wanted to hit Jacob. Well, aside from Marcus Caius, who I hadn't heard anything about recently.

"Keep harassing my employee, and you'll find yourself out of a job and blacklisted in the community," Jasper said from behind me. "I mean it, Jacob. Aro may have hired you, but you're not irreplaceable. I can have twenty people lined up for your job in a matter of hours. If you value your job and you want to keep it, then back the fuck off. Sexual harassment is very serious, and I've already filed a report on Dr. Swan's behalf."

Jacob's face was dark red, and his eyes were furious. I could tell it was taking all he had not to say something, but he nodded his head before pushing past Jasper and stomping off.

"Thanks, Jas," I said, and he nodded his head, running a hand through his hair.

"I wasn't lying when I said he was good at his job. He is, but when Aro had me call and verify his references, they all gave me warnings that he was a ladies' man. I warned Aro about it, but he didn't listen to me. I'm sorry for that, Bella."

"It's fine, Jasper. No, it is," I said when he shook his head. "I've told him no, I talked to Linda in HR before we left, and you've talked with him now. Whatever happens, is up to him. Personally, I'd love to see him gone. He doesn't mesh well with the rest of us but neither do Newton or Lauren for that matter. Speaking of, I wonder how Jess is holding up."

"I think I'm going to have to keep her from killing them," Jasper said with a weary sigh. Sometimes being the boss sucked, and I was so glad I didn't have his job.

* * *

"Ow," I mumbled against Edward's lips as his fingers lightly ran up my arms, and he pulled away from me, frowning.

"What's wrong?" he asked, and I rolled up the sleeve of my shirt to show him the bright red skin underneath.

"I forgot to put sunblock on while out on the deck earlier," I said sheepishly, embarrassed at having made such a rookie mistake. I was a fair skinned girl with a few freckles, and the sun was not my friend.

"Bella," Edward sighed as he looked down at my skin. "Come on, I've got some aloe in the bathroom."

I got up from the loveseat that was crammed into the captain's quarters and followed him into the tiny bathroom.

I sat down on the closed toilet lid and waited as he rummaged through the medicine cabinet before coming out with a bottle of the cool, green gel.

With a gentle touch, he applied it to both my arms as well as my neck. Since I'd had my long hair pulled up in a bun most of the day, my neck had taken the brunt of the sun's rays.

"Thanks for not lecturing me," I said with a grin, and he shook his head.

"I wanted to, but I know you. You know what you're doing and what precautions to take. Just don't forget again. The last thing I want is for you to burn to crisp and get skin cancer."

"I hear that."

I followed him back into his room and plopped back down on the loveseat as he sat down next to me, unpausing the movie that we hadn't been watching.

I curled in to him, and he slipped an arm around my shoulders, mindful of my sunburn.

"What are you going to do when this is all over?" I asked him.

"I don't have a clue," he said, and I was a tad bit disappointed in his answer. It was stupid to think that he'd want to give up his life in Hawaii and come be with me in Miami when we'd only been together for a handful of days.

I was hoping this was more than just a fling, but I had no idea how Edward felt about whatever this was between us. I guess we'd just have to give it time and see if it could survive outside of this ship.

At some point during the movie, I fell asleep with my head on Edward's shoulder, and I was woken up as he picked me up to carry me to his bed.

"Get some sleep," he whispered, pressing a kiss to my lips, and I protested as he moved away.

"I can sleep in my own bed. I'm not taking yours," I argued through a yawn, and he shook his head.

"Sleep, Bella."

"No, I'm not kicking you out. Either I go sleep in my own room or you get your ass in this bed and sleep."

It would be a bit of a tight squeeze since the bed in his room was a single, but we'd make do.

"Stay," he said, and I agreed, however, I wasn't keen on the idea of sleeping in my khaki shorts.

"Can I borrow something to sleep in?" I asked him, and he told me to take whatever I wanted, pointing toward the dresser.

I shamelessly dug through his dresser while he was in the bathroom and found a pair of soft boxer shorts that would have to do.

"Mind if I borrow these?" I asked, holding them up and hoping I wasn't taking his last pair of clean underwear.

"Have at it," he said, a dangerous glint is his eyes.

I quickly changed into the boxers before having a debate with myself on whether or not to leave on my bra. I finally chose comfort over modesty and took it off, folding it amongst my shorts before leaving the bathroom.

Edward was on the bed, propped up on his side watching me, and I blushed knowing that he could very well tell that I was braless.

Moving quickly, I shut the lights off before climbing into the bed and lying down on my back.

Edward leaned down and gave me a gentle kiss which quickly turned into something far more heated.

At some point during our kiss, our bodies shifted, and Edward had settled between my legs.

I sighed as his weight settled upon me, and I arched my hips into his, letting out an embarrassingly loud moan when I felt his hardness pressing into me.

With a wicked grin, Edward captured my lips once more, pressing harder into me, and it took everything in me not to grind against him.

His lips broke from mine as one of his hands squeezed my waist before sliding underneath my shirt, asking me if that was okay.

"Hell, yes," was my reply, and Edward chuckled.

His warm hand slid along my stomach, and I giggled as he tickled me before his hand moved upward to where I wanted it.

His forehead dropped to mine as his hand touched my breast, and I couldn't stop the moan that escaped me as he gently pinched my nipple.

"More?" he asked, and I nodded my head.

Leaning back so that he was sitting on his knees, he began to pull my shirt up, but then, there was a loud, frantic knocking on the door as some guy screamed that we had trouble.

"Trouble? What kind of trouble?" I asked, trying to keep calm, as I shoved my hair out of my face and crawled off of Edward's bed, hunting for the khaki shorts I'd been wearing before bed.

"I don't know, but it can't be good if Riley's waking me up," Edward said as he shoved his feet into his worn boat shoes and tossing his door open.

"Talk to me, Riley," he commanded as he rushed out the door, and I raced to catch up, my canvas shoes in my hands.

"I spotted a ship on the radar, coming toward us, so I sent out a message but didn't get a response. I tried twice more and still nothing. They're coming straight for us at eight knots. They'll be here in no time, and the fact that they haven't responded to my calls makes me think pirates."

A chill ran down my spine at those words. I'd never had a run with in pirates, but I'd read about them, and they never tended to end well.

"What do we do?" I asked Edward, and he turned around and looked at me.

"We stay calm, but we arm ourselves," he told me. "It could just be a boat with no English speaking crew who didn't understand was Riley was saying, or it could be someone who's radio is down. Let's not jump to conclusions just yet, but I'd rather be armed and prepared should it actually be pirates."

"I can handle a spear gun," I told him, and he nodded as he unlocked a drawer near the captain's chair and pulled out a gun. He checked to make sure it was loaded before tucking it in his waistband near his back.

"What about the others? They need to know, don't they?"

Edward seemed to think about it for a minute before nodding his head.

"Go, and wake them, but be careful. That ship will be approaching within the next ten minutes."

"And the _Icarus_?"

"Fuck," Edward muttered as he grabbed the satellite phone and dialed a number.

As I was leaving the wheelhouse, I heard him talking to Seth and warning him that we had company approaching, but he wasn't sure if they were friendly or not.

"Wake up," I said, pounding loudly on Jasper and Alice's door before doing the same to the other staterooms that held sleeping people.

Soon, everyone stumbled out into the hallway, all in various states of sleepiness, hair mussed and pajamas rumpled.

"Edward asked me to wake you all up. Now, first off, you need to stay calm," I said, and that got everyone's attention. "There's a ship heading our way, and it will be arriving within the next five minutes or so. Riley attempted to contact the ship's captain, but he never got an answer."

"Pirates?" Jasper asked, and I shrugged.

"No clue, but Edward wants us to stay calm and to be prepared. If you are comfortable carrying a weapon, please do so, but let's not freak out. It could be the radio on the ship is down. We just have to wait and see."

Fear flittered over several faces, and I fought to keep my own fear from rising to the surface.

Less than ten minutes later, the strange ship approached our location. Edward and some of the crew were out on the deck, armed and ready to fight if necessary. The rest of us were huddled in the wheelhouse, waiting with baited breath to see what would happen.

"This is the _Arrikas_ ," Jasper said over the radio. "Please respond."

There was no response, but I hadn't been expecting one. The hairs on the back of my neck were standing up, and there was a nauseas feeling in my stomach.

The ship had begun to slow down the closer it got to us and as our lights shined on it, I saw that it was a yacht. A small one, maybe ten meters, but it was an expensive looking boat, and I was surprised to see it out here so far off the coast of Cape Verde.

At this point, the yacht had slowed down and the engine seemed to have cut off as it drifted lazily toward us.

I heard Edward holler out something, but no one answered.

The yacht drifted even closer, and I watched as Edward and Riley reached out and grabbed the railing, tossing a rope around it and tying the boat down.

I couldn't stay in the wheelhouse any longer, so I rushed out on to the deck, spear gun in hand, with Jasper right on my heels.

"Stay there!" Edward yelled at me as I got closer, and I let out a huff at being told to stay put.

With his weapon drawn, Edward announced that he was the captain of the _Arrikas_ and that he was requesting permission to board the yacht. When he got no response, Edward and Riley carefully crossed onto the yacht and the rest of us waited with baited breath.

"Call the Cabo Verdean Armed Forces!" Edward hollered, and I looked over as one of the younger crew members, Omar, raced toward the wheelhouse. The Cabo Verdean Armed Forces was Cape Verdes military and coast guard, and I wondered why Edward was having them called.

"We've got a man down who needs medical attention!" Edward shouted.

* * *

 **a/n: Yeah, so some things happened, and there's a teeny, tiny, cliffhanger. Leave a review if you like, and I'll see you next Sunday.**


	13. Chapter 13

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing last week! Of course, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather!**

 **Off you go!**

* * *

It took fifteen minutes to get the unconscious man, who was covered in blood, over to our ship from his yacht.

As soon as the man was onboard and lying on the deck, Jasper, who had been a medic in the army, went to work. He checked the man's vitals, wincing and muttering obscenities when he discovered the man's pulse was incredibly weak, and then he pulled open the man's shirt to reveal a bloody torso beneath.

"You got him, Jasper?" Edward asked, and when Jasper nodded, Edward and Riley went back over to the yacht to check and see if there was anyone else onboard.

"Bella, can you grab a flashlight and the first aid kit?" Jasper asked, drawing my attention away from the yacht, and I rushed to do as he asked. Setting down the spear gun, I went and grabbed the first aid kit, some bottled water, a thermal blanket, and a flashlight, and rushed back onto the deck and dropped the items next to Jasper.

"Shine that flashlight right here," Jasper said, and I did as he instructed, shining the light onto the man's torso.

Grabbing one of the bottles of water I'd brought out, he poured it over the man's chest and stomach, cleaning the blood off as he went.

"Fuck," Jasper hissed just as Edward and Riley climbed back on our ship, tossing a duffel bag that looked like it had clothes in it, on the deck.

"How bad is it?" Edward asked, and Jas shook his head.

"It's bad. He's got three gunshots to the torso. He's going to bleed out before help arrives unless we can stop the bleeding."

Immediately, Edward knelt beside Jasper and began to apply pressure to one of the wounds.

"Bella, come press down hard on this wound here," Edward said, and I moved over to where he was and knelt down.

I hated blood, and I fought to stay conscious. It wasn't the sight of blood that bothered me but rather the smell. It was metallic and tangy, and it made my stomach curl.

Breathing slowly, I pressed my hand down on the gauze that Jasper had handed me and did my best to staunch the blood flow.

"He's gonna need a blood transfusion," Jasper said before calling out to Omar and asking how far out the Cabo Verdean Armed Forces were.

"At least thirty more minutes," Omar hollered back, and Jasper let out a string of curses.

"He might not have that long, but we'll do what we can to save him," Jasper told us, and we did just that.

We pressed down on the man's wounds, and at one point, Jasper had to perform CPR because the man had stopped breathing. Once Jasper got him breathing again, we went back to trying to stop his wounds from bleeding, and it was as the sun was rising over the ocean that I got a look at the man's face, and I almost stopped breathing.

"Oh, my fucking God!" I snarled as I looked down at the face of the man who had killed my father, and I yanked my hands away from his body.

"Bella?" Edward asked.

"This—" I had to take a moment to reign in my temper. "This _man_ is Marcus Caius."

Edward's head snapped up, and he stared long and hard at the man's face, and his face darkened.

"Huh, so it is. I guess what goes around comes around. Karma's a bitch like that," he said in a calm voice, and I didn't understand how he could seem so blasé about the whole thing.

I stared down at the blood that was on my hands, and I wanted nothing more than to let the asshole bleed the fuck out.

"Bella!" Jasper said in a quiet voice. "I know that this man killed your father, but we can't let him die."

"Sure, we can. It would be incredibly easy," I said as anger and rage started to take over me. "Hell, I can put the fucking bastard out of his misery right now."

"No, Bella," Edward said, reaching out and grasping my arm as I went for my spear gun. I was blinded with hate toward the man on our deck, and it sickened me to think that I'd actually tried to save his life.

"Why not, Edward? Huh? Why the fuck not?" I screamed at him. "He fucking murdered my father. He shot you and tried to kill you! He's lived the past fifteen years as a free man! He doesn't deserve to live."

The others on the deck had obviously figured out what was going on, and some of them definitely felt the way I did. I could hear Emmett and Riley both muttering about letting the asshole die.

"I know that, Bella. Believe me, I'm well aware of what this asshole did, but it's not our job to condemn him to death. We'll let the authorities do their job, and he can spend the rest of his life in prison or be sentenced to death."

I was shaking with fury, and Edward's hand tightened on my wrist.

"What would Charlie want you to do?" he asked me.

"Dad's dead, so it doesn't fucking matter now, does it?"

"Bella," he sighed, and I took a deep breath, finally looking away from Marcus Caius. I shook my head and walked away, allowing Seth, the captain of the _Icarus,_ to take my spot and pressing down on Caius' wound.

I felt sick, nauseous, but it wasn't because of the blood that was on my hands. I leaned my head against the railing and tried to calm my breathing down, unable to fight the tears that were streaming down my cheeks.

I could hear people talking around me, but I couldn't focus on them, and I jumped when warm hands put themselves on my shoulders.

"Come here," was all Edward said, and I buried my face in his chest as he held me tight.

I couldn't hold back the sobs any longer, and I just let it all out. I cried until I couldn't cry anymore, and I felt exhausted by the time my tears came to a stop.

"Let's go in for a minute, okay?" Edward suggested, and I nodded my head, realizing that my hands were still covered in dried blood.

"Come get me as soon as the coast guard arrives," Edward said to Jasper who nodded before Edward walked me toward the stairs.

As soon as we were below deck, Edward took us to his room, instructing me to take a shower, and he'd go grab some clothes for me. I told him which bag was mine and then I closed the door to his bathroom.

I let the water wash away my tears and the blood, scrubbing my skin until it was pink, and I felt drained by the time the hot water had run out.

I wrapped myself up in a towel before padding into Edward's room, seeing he'd set my bag on his bed. I dug through it and got dressed quickly because I could hear another boat approaching.

As soon as I was dressed, I tossed my hair up into a ponytail and made my way back up top.

Marcus Caius was alive and awake, and all the anger I'd just let go of came rushing back.

He was still lying there, but his head was moving around, and his eyes were taking in everything around him. When his eyes landed on me, I stared right back, and he looked confused until he realized who I was, and then his eyes went wide.

I really, really wanted to walk over and just kick the bastard, but I didn't. I stayed right where I was because I knew if I got any closer, I wouldn't be able to resist hurting him.

"Long time no see, Marcus," I sneered.

He opened his mouth to say something, but I shook my head. I didn't want to hear it. I'd heard it fifteen years ago, and I would never forget what he'd done and said.

The Cape Verde Coast Guard had arrived, and Edward spoke to them in Portuguese, surprising the hell out of me. I was also surprised that no one had mentioned to them that Marcus Caius was a murderer, and I was about to do so when Omar shook his head.

"Cape Verde doesn't have an extradition agreement with the United States," he whispered. "As long as he is on their land, he can't be touched by your government. Once he's back in international waters, your government can arrest him."

"Fuck," I muttered.

"The best option is to let him heal up and get back on his yacht. Then, and only then, can you have him arrested for murder."

"Besides, the Cape Verde police won't arrest him for something that wasn't done on their soil."

I knew he was right, but it irritated the fuck out of me. I hoped to hell that Caius didn't know or wouldn't find out that Cape Verde did not have an extradition treaty with the United States because if he did, the chances of having him arrested would be nil.

I watched as they lifted Caius onto a stretcher and carefully carried him across to the coast guard's ship, and then they were gone, tugging his yacht behind their boat.

"I'm going to take the inflatable boat into Sal later this afternoon to check on Caius' progress," Jasper said. "Right now, I'm going to take a shower and clean up."

He was covered in blood, and I didn't blame him one bit for wanting to get that off of him.

"I'll start breakfast," Omar said, and Alice offered to help him.

Edward and Seth took off for the wheelhouse, leaving me where I was. I jumped a bit when Rose came over and wrapped her arm around my shoulders.

"Come on, Bells, let's get you some hot tea," she said as she led me toward the stairs.

I numbly followed her, letting myself be lightly pushed into a seat in the galley, and then she put a kettle on and talked to Omar.

"Here you go, Bella. I made you some Earl Grey tea," she said, handing me the mug, and I wrapped my hands around it, soaking in the warmth.

"Are you okay?" she asked before shaking her head. "Sorry. Dumb question. Of course, you're not."

"It was one hell of a shock. I'm just …" I trailed off. "I guess I'm just processing it all. I'm so fucking angry at that man. I wanted to let him die, Rose. I was willing to let him bleed to death. What kind of person does that make me?"

"A human one. If it were me, I'd want him dead, too. Hell, I would've grabbed the gun that Edward was carrying and shot the fucker in the head. End of fucking story, but had you done that, the guilt would have eaten you alive."

"It seems so strange and coincidental that he showed up here. I mean, what are the odds?" I asked her just as Omar slid a plate of eggs and bacon in front of me before putting down a smaller plate that had two pancakes on it.

"Thanks, Omar," I told him even though my appetite was nonexistent.

"Eat. You need it," he said, and I took a small bite of bacon.

"If Caius has been searching for the Treasured Heart this whole time, it could be he'd heard about our search from someone in Morocco," Rose suggested.

"I was wondering that myself," Edward said, sliding into the chair next to mine and stealing a slice of my bacon. "He didn't show up on our last trip to look for the _Sirène_ , so why show up now? If he knew about this place, wouldn't he have claimed it first?"

"I don't know," I said, poking at my eggs with my fork. "This is just so fucking bizarre. I didn't think about Marcus Caius for years, well not really think about him, but then Jasper decides to look for the _Sirène_ , then Heidi Caius shows up, and now this. Something is going on, and I don't like it."

Kissing the side of my head, Rose stood up and said she'd see me later. She said she had some things to do on her computer before our day got started, and I waved at her as she left.

"Bella, please eat. If you plan on working today, you'll need your strength."

"I know," I mumbled as I shoved some eggs into my mouth. They tasted like sandpaper, but I ate them and took a couple bites of the pancakes that Omar had made.

As soon as I was done eating, I went to my room, finding Dr. Tanner there, and changed into my swimsuit that I would wear underneath my wetsuit.

"How are you doing, dear?" she asked, and I took a deep breath as I sat down on the edge of my bed.

"Honestly? I don't know. I've run the gamut of emotions, and now I'm feeling drained."

"Do you need to take the day off? I'm sure everyone would understand if you needed to."

"Thank you, but no. I think drowning myself in work right now is going to be the only thing that keeps me sane," I confessed, and she nodded her head as she reached out to squeeze my hand.

"I understand. I'll meet you on the deck in a few and we'll go down together," she said, getting up and leaving the room.

I sat there for a moment before grabbing my tablet and opening up my email. I'd been in constant contact with Esme and Carlisle ever since Edward had Skyped with his dad to let him know that we'd found the _Sirène_. They'd been worried about me, especially Carlisle. He was concerned about what finding the shipwreck might mean, so I knew that I was going to have to tell them about Marcus Caius, but I wanted Edward with me when I did it.

Closing my tablet after seeing no new emails, I made my way into the research room and took a look. It was crowded with container after container, all filled with artifacts, and it was amazing to see.

I felt myself calming down as I took in all the work we'd done and would continue to do for the near future.

With one last look around the room, I made my way to the deck where I put on my wetsuit and double checked my equipment.

There were so many unknowns where Caius was concerned. The first and foremost was how had he found us? Our search for the _Sirène_ wasn't exactly public knowledge, so that mean that he'd somehow been keeping tabs on us, which was a scary thought, or had he stumbled upon our ship by accident. And who the hell had shot him? I just didn't know, and I knew I was going to drive myself crazy with questions if I didn't focus. Diving, and furthering our progress on our research, was the one thing I could control right now, so I decided to focus on that instead.

* * *

 **a/n: So, a bit of drama there. Let me know what you thought! I'll see you next Sunday!**


	14. Chapter 14

**A/N: Sorry this is so late! Hopefully, the length and the little lemon make up for it! Off you go then!**

* * *

"How is he?" I asked Jasper that evening as we all gathered for dinner in the galley. He'd just gotten back from Sal Hospital where Caius had been taken.

"It was touch and go for a while, but they have stabilized him," he told me.

"Did he say who shot him?" I asked, and Jasper shook his head.

"He wouldn't say anything. I'm not sure if it was because he's scared to talk, didn't know who did it, did something illegal to cause it to happen, or if it's because he knows that I know you."

"Did he say what his plan was when he got released?" Edward asked, and Jasper shook his head.

"I asked one of the nurses to call me when he got released. I may have lied and said I was a concerned friend and that I was afraid he was going to do something stupid and reinjure himself."

"Nice," Edward said with a grin.

"So, he didn't say anything at all? Nothing about why he was out this way?" I asked because I needed answers.

"Sorry, Bells."

"I may have the answer to that," Rose said, her voice full of venom as she slapped some papers down on the table in front of us.

"What's that?" I asked her.

"Phone records. Specifically, Heidi Caius' phone records," she said. "Guess who she's been in contact with for the past ten months?"

"No!" I gasped, and she nodded her head.

"Yup. She's been talking to daddy twice a week for the past two years. She called him right after she landed in Miami, called him right after she had lunch with you, and she called him right after she left Poseidon once the FBI was done talking to her."

"And her mother?" I asked through gritted teeth.

"No calls from her to the ex. I'm not sure she knows just how much her daughter is talking to Caius."

"That little bitch!" I muttered. She'd seemed so innocent, but it turns out that she had played us. I'd bet anything she tipped him off and let him know the FBI was looking for him. Although, we hadn't mentioned coming out toward Cape Verde, so I wasn't sure how she'd figured that out, and I mentioned that as well.

"Could she have planted a bug?" Alice asked from behind us.

"Maybe," I said with a shrug. "She was in the conference room with us for several hours. I guess she could have put a bug in there."

Anger flashed across Jasper's face, and he excused himself to make a phone call.

"Maria? We've got a problem," he said. I'd forgotten that his sister was one of the FBI agents in charge of this case.

I could hear him talking to her down the hall, but I focused on what Rose was showing us.

"See this?" she said, pointing at a line on the paper. "This is the last call made from Heidi's phone which you can see was just twelve hours ago. I did some digging and discovered its last GPS location was Sao Filipe, Cape Verde."

"What the fuck is going on?" I muttered, tugging on a strand of hair that had fallen loose from my ponytail.

"I don't know, but I can guarantee that Jasper is doing his best to find out."

Unable to stomach what was left of my dinner, I rinsed off my plate and decided to get some more work done in the research room.

It was empty at the moment, Dr. Tanner was upstairs eating, and I picked up where I'd left off earlier.

We'd uncovered a couple of trunks, one of which was made of leather. Cleaning leather was a long-ass process. The leather trunk would first have to soak in freshwater for at least two weeks, and then we'd be able to gently brush it clean with a nylon brush. Once it was somewhat clean, we'd have to soak it in a solution of alcohol and freshwater and then transfer it to a solution of pure alcohol. The last step was to soak it in polyethylene glycol for approximately one month. After all of this was completed, I had high hopes it would be worth it.

Checking on the leather trunk to make sure it was fully submerged, I turned my focus to the small wooden box that we'd found buried deep in the sand. The box was no bigger than a hat box, made of wood with iron hinges and locks that had been corroded by the saltwater and looked to be moments from falling apart.

It, too, was submerged in a small tank of freshwater while I attempted to carefully remove the rust from the hinges. It was a long process, but really, what wasn't when it came to excavation and restoration?

"How's it going, Little B?" Emmett asked from the doorway.

"It goes," I told him, setting down the little hammer I'd been using to knock the rust away, and sat back in my chair.

"You've been down here for hours," he commented, and I realized that he was right. I was shocked to see that it was quarter to ten, and I still wasn't done removing the rust on this box.

"So, what's in the box?" he asked, and I shook my head, telling him I had no clue.

"What? Don't you want to know?"

"Of course, but I can't just lift the lid. I have to preserve the iron first or else these hinges and locks are going to crumble."

"I've got a portable handheld x-ray scanner that we can use to see if there's anything in there," he said, and my head snapped up to look at him.

"Seriously?"

"Yeah, I totally forgot I brought it with because we haven't needed to use it. Let me go get," he said, rushing out the door and headed to the robotics room a few doors down.

Minutes later, he was back with it, and it looked like some sort of handheld game with a screen.

"I got the idea from my dad who's a carpenter. The tool industry created a handheld scanner that scans walls and tell you what's behind them. I just improved on it a bit."

"You're a fucking genius."

"Well, yeah. My IQ is around one-seventy, and I'm a member of Mensa," he said as he fiddled with his scanner, and I grinned at him being so matter-of-fact.

"Do I need to take it out of the water?" I asked him, and he nodded.

Very carefully, I slowly moved the box out above the water, and Emmett scanned the entire box. He scanned each side, the top, and the bottom, his scanner reporting back to the tablet that was on the table beside him.

"Thanks, B," he said as he set his scanner down and picked up his tablet.

"Oh, ho! We've got something here," Em said, and I set the box back down in the water and looked over his shoulder at the tablet.

There seemed to be another box inside the wooden box, and it needed to be extracted immediately if we were going to preserve it as well.

"Fuck," I muttered as I tried to figure out the best way to do it without compromising everything.

"Can you get Dr. T down here?" I asked Em, and he took off to go get her, leaving me to look at the smaller box. I couldn't see much detail, but I was concerned about its state of decay.

"What do we have?" Dr. Tanner asked a few minutes later, and I explained that we'd discovered another box within the wooden box that I had been cleaning.

We talked for a few minutes before deciding that extracting the smaller box was worth the risk of possibly damaging the lid of the larger one. So, slowly and carefully, I lifted the lid of the wooden box, wincing when the hinges creaked. I opened it just far enough so that Dr. T could reach in and gently remove the smaller box.

"Got it," she said, and I closed the lid before submerging the box back into the freshwater tank.

The smaller box was in amazing condition and that was partially because it was made of bronze and partially because it had been hidden away inside the larger box. The box was no bigger than a cigar box, and the bronze lid was painted with something, but I couldn't tell what because the painting was covered with years of sand and rust.

I grabbed the camera and took pictures of the box from every angle before grabbing the video camera and turning it on.

"It's the 30th of August 2016 at 10:16 PM. I'm with Dr. Bree Tanner and Dr. Emmett McCarty, and we have discovered what looks to be a bronze box that was tucked inside of this larger wooden box," I documented.

Giving a nod to Dr. T, she began to slowly lift the lid, stopping when it made an awful creaking noise.

Taking a deep breath, she continued opening it, centimeter by centimeter, unitl it was opened all the way.

The inside of the lid looked like it had been covered in some sort of delicate cloth, silk or satin perhaps. I zoomed in closer with the camera and spoke about the damage that I saw.

Nestled inside the bottom of the box was a pouch made of some kind of cloth. It, too, had suffered at the hands of time.

Dr. Tanner picked up a pair of tweezers that were resting nearby and very carefully peeled the cloth apart. It had obviously been tied at one point in time, but whatever had held it closed was long gone.

"Bella!" Dr. T said, and I handed the video camera off to Emmett so that I could help her separate the small pouch.

We moved slowly, each of us with a pair of tweezers in hand, as we separated the pieces, and I let out a gasp when I caught a glimpse of what appeared to be jewelry.

Soon, the pouch was spread open and revealed the Treasured Heart that had been nestled inside.

"Is that—" Emmett asked, and I nodded.

"Oh, yeah," I said as I stared down at it, barely paying attention as Dr. Tanner picked up the camera and took a million photographs of the brooch.

"Can you pick it up for me please?" she asked and with trembling hands, I very carefully picked up the brooch.

"The Treasured Heart," I whispered in awe as I stared down at it nestled in my hand. "It looks different than I imagined."

And it did. I'd seen drawings that had been done throughout the years, but it had never shown the ruby encrusted heart was surrounded by a bed of emeralds in the shape of vines and a diamond cross on top of the heart.

"Are you sure that's it?" Emmett asked, doubt in his voice, and I nodded my head. I knew as I held it that this was the brooch that had cost my father his life and had almost cost Edward his.

Picture after picture was taken before we weighed it. It came in at a little over seventeen ounces.

"How much is that thing worth?"

I looked over at Emmett before staring back at the brooch.

"Rumor has it ten to twenty million. I'm not a gemologist, but I'm sure the price depends on the grade of the gems and the gold that was used to make the brooch."

While I was talking to Emmett, Dr. T pulled up several drawings that had been done over the years of the Treasured Heart, and she showed them to us. There was one that was sketched by a jewelry designer in the early nineteenth century, and it was the closest to the actual item.

"I'm saying that this is the Treasured Heart," she said in a whisper, and the three of us stared at each other for a moment before Emmett let out a whoop and began to do a dance around the room, the video camera still in his hands.

"We need to tell the others," I said as I continued to stare down at the brooch. Despite the fact that it was dirty and needed a good cleaning, it was in amazing shape, and it felt all too surreal.

I barely noticed when Emmett set down the video camera and ran up top, hooting and hollering about how we'd found the Treasured Heart. I couldn't seem to take my eye off the damn thing, and there was part of me that wanted to destroy it for all the heartache it had caused, but the rational part of me knew this was a huge find. Not to mention, the French government wouldn't be too happy with me if I destroyed the Treasured Heart. Plus, there was a very nice finder's fee coming our way, well the company's way, for finding the jeweled brooch.

Moments later, there was a thundering of steps so loud you'd have thought an elephant was on board the ship.

Everyone rushed into the small research room, and I took a step back as everyone gathered around.

"May I?" Jasper asked as he put on a pair of gloves that we wore when handling the artifacts.

Carefully, I handed the brooch over to him, and he spent a good five minutes looking at it. He turned it over, studied the back, and then turned it back around to study the front.

"Pictures?"

"Taken," Dr. Tanner and I told him, and he asked if he could take one more using his cell phone. He handed the brooch back to me, and I set it down gently in a small box that Dr. Tanner had found and lined with some soft cloth.

Jasper took a picture of the brooch and then told us that he was going to contact Leo Dubois, our contact within the French government who had coordinated the hiring of Poseidon.

With his cell phone in one hand and the satellite phone in the other, Jasper excused himself to make the call. Dubois was already aware of the fact that we'd found the shipwreck, but Jasper wanted to let him know that we'd found the Treasured Heart as well.

* * *

The following morning, all of us were still in a bit of shock over finding the Treasured Heart, and the galley was filled with chatter.

After breakfast, Jasper called a meeting, wanting to let us know that he'd talked to Leo Dubois and find out what the man wanted Poseidon to do now.

"Okay, gang, here's what's going to happen. The French government wants the Treasured Heart released into their custody immediately, and I'm fine with that. I'd rather not keep it on board the ship."

"Are they sending someone to come get it?" I asked him.

"They are, but Alice and I are going to accompany whomever it is when they go back to France to make sure that the brooch arrives safely and is properly documented. I don't want the Treasured Heart to slip through the cracks and get lost or have the French government try and claim that we lost it, or worse, stole it."

We all nodded our heads because we'd all heard stories about artifacts being stolen or lost by government officials and then blaming others. No one wanted that to happen, especially not us.

"While we are gone, you are to continue salvaging and excavating everything you can. The French haven't put a time limit on this operation, but they want it done as efficiently as possible now that we've found the wreck."

"No problem," I replied with the others nodding their heads in agreement. "I do have a question though. Does the French government want the hull of the ship brought up? Because, as much as it pains me to admit, I don't think we can move it without destroying it. It's incredibly fragile."

Jasper rubbed a hand over his face before answering me.

"They do want it. I've warned them that if we attempt to bring up the hull, it will be in pieces. They still want it, but we're going to need another research vessel for that alone. Hell, the _Icarus_ already has what, three cannons that we've brought up from the secondary site?"

Newton and Black both nodded before Black mentioned that they had part of the mast as well as cannonballs and some furniture that had seen better days.

"Okay, I need to call Aro anyway, so I'll also tell him we need one more vessel out here for the hull. Considering how much the French are going to pay for finding the brooch, I can't imagine he'd say no. Then again, he's a tightass, so he might fight me on this."

I'd only met Aro a handful of times, but he was a tightass and a jerk. He was pompous but incredibly intelligent and tended to think very highly of himself.

Once the meeting was over, Edward pulled me aside, and I melted into his embrace. I'd been working so hard lately that I felt like we hadn't see each other all that often even though we were living on the same ship.

"Mom and Dad want to Skype with us later if that's okay?" he asked me, and I nodded my head.

We agreed that we'd talk to them at six our time which would be around eleven in the morning there, and he sent his dad a quick email to let him know.

"See you later," he said, pressing a quick kiss to my lips, and I watched as he made his way back to the wheelhouse.

I was on my way to put on my dive suit when Jasper came rushing around the corner, and the look on his face, stopped me in my tracks

"No."

He nodded his head.

"I'm sorry, Bella."

"Fuck, fuck, fuck! Now, he's gone. They'll never find him again! Hell, he could just chill somewhere down here, and we can't ever touch him!"

"I know, Bella. The hospital said he checked out this morning, and no one knows where he went. It's not exactly legal, but I've got Rose keeping an eye on his phone records as well as his daughter's. I've also kept my sister up-to-date on what's going on."

I honestly wasn't as shocked as I thought I would be. At this point, I was sort of used to the fact that Marcus Caius was going get away with murder and attempted murder. There were times when I was so focused on what he'd done to my dad that I tended to forget that he'd almost killed Edward. Caius deserved to go to prison for that as well.

Needless to say, my focus for the rest of the day was shot. Oh, I did my best to stay on task, and I did my job, but I can't say I gave it one hundred percent.

"Take a break, Bella," Dr. T suggested a little after two that afternoon. "Go have lunch with that handsome captain."

I rolled my eyes, but I didn't argue with her. I grabbed a couple of sandwiches, two small bags of chips, and two sodas before making my way to the wheelhouse where Edward was talking with Seth.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt," I said, but they shook their heads and told me to come in.

I handed over the plate with the ham and cheese sandwich as well as the chips and soda to Edward and set my own down at the small table that was set up in the corner.

Seth offered me his seat, but I shook my head and I thanked him. I didn't know anything about him except that he'd given Edward his first job as a captain. Seth looked to be in his late fifties with long black hair that was kept in a braid down his back. He had copper colored skin and it could be he was Native American or just tan from years of being on a boat.

"How's your mom?" Edward asked Seth, and as I sat there, listening to them talk, I felt like I was intruding.

"You know my mother. She's good. She refuses to retire despite being eighty, and I'm sure she'll run that seaside restaurant until the day she dies."

"Seth's mom owns this tiny seafood shack in La Push, Washington. It's got the most amazing crab cakes that I've ever had, and I've had a lot of crab cakes."

"Did you guys meet in Washington?" I asked because I'd thought they'd met in Mexico.

They both shook their heads no.

"I met Edward in Manzanillo, Colima, Mexico a few years after he'd dropped out of college. He was a fucking mess. He lived in this tiny apartment and was working as a waiter or something like that."

"I was a dishwasher," Edward interrupted. "And a half-assed one at that. I worked just enough to pay for my rent and my alcohol."

"Anyway, one morning, around four or so, I went down to the pier where I kept my boat, and as I was walking across the beach, I stumbled over a passed out drunk."

I looked over at Edward whose face was red with embarrassment and nodded his head.

"I was a mess back then, Bella. Seth saved my life. He woke me up, dragged me onto his boat, and made me drink some awful concoction that was supposed to cure my hangover."

"I was short a deckhand, and Edward, despite being a drunk college kid, looked strong enough to handle the job, so I hired him with the condition that he wasn't allowed to drink anymore."

"How'd that work out in the beginning?" I asked, the food on my plate forgotten as I listened to their story.

"I kicked his ass a lot," Seth said with a grin. "He fought me from the get go, but eventually, he got his act together. That was when I learned his folks lived in Forks, Washington which is about an hour and a half from the reservation that I grew up on. He also told me about what happened to you all in the summer of '02. I can't tell you how sorry I was to hear about your father, and now, all of this."

I groaned as I thought about it.

"It's a fucking nightmare," I said with a sigh. "Rose is not-quite-so-legally keeping tabs on Caius' phone as well as his daughter's, but I just don't get it. If my father was a murderer, I wouldn't go out of my way to help him. Hell, I'd have turned the bastard in and washed my hands of him. I don't understand what her motive is for helping him now."

"He's her dad," Seth said. "Maybe she thinks that by doing this, she can win his affection or his love."

"Maybe."

After spending another fifteen minutes with Edward and Seth, I went back to work. By the time six rolled around, my eyes were watering and I had a massive headache.

"Hey," Edward said from the doorway of the research room, and I held a finger up telling him to give me a minute.

As I finished typing up my findings, Edward wandered around the room, looking inside containers and flipping through reports we'd written.

"Okay, I'm ready," I told him, closing my laptop and following him down the hall to his room.

I sat down on the couch next to him as he brought up Skype on his iPad, and I smiled when his mom's face filled the screen.

"Hello, dears! How are you?" she asked, and we told her we were doing okay. We hadn't told them that we were, whatever it was we were, probably because we, ourselves, didn't know. We hadn't put a label on it.

"Uh huh. Something's up. Let me get your father, and then you can tell us," she said before hollering for Carlisle to hurry his ass up.

I sat there twirling a strand of hair around my finger, something I tended to do when I was nervous, and Edward reached over and grasped my wrist gently.

"You're gonna pull your hair out," he said, and I let go of the lock, sitting back in my seat and began to fiddle with the hem of my shirt.

Moments later, Esme, who had gotten up to hurry Carlisle along, returned, and Carlisle took a seat beside her on their couch.

"How is Caius?" Carlisle asked right away, and Edward and I shot each other looks.

"He's in the wind," I said, anger seeping into my voice. "He checked himself out of the hospital against the doctor's wishes, and he's gone underground. Although, I don't know why. Cape Verde is a safe haven for criminals because it doesn't have an extradition agreement."

"I was afraid that would happen. Are the FBI aware?" he asked because Edward had filled them in on everything.

"Yeah, Jasper has kept them up-to-date," I replied, leaving out the part about Rose and her illegal phone tracing. I wasn't sure how they'd handle that, so I figured it best not to bring it up.

"That's good. I know you're worried that he's going to get away again, but I have faith that he will get caught," Carlisle said, and I wished I had that same faith, but I didn't, and Carlisle could see it on my face.

"Bella, I promise you, he will get caught. Caius will pay for what he did to Charlie and for what he did to Edward. And knowing Marcus, he's probably done several more illegal things over the years. Karma is a bitch, and he will get what's coming to him. Hell, it sounds like he's already pissed off the wrong people, and if they found out he's still alive, well …. It probably won't be for long."

"Enough talk about that horrible man," Esme said. "Tell me what else you've found because you've definitely found something. I can tell."

I grabbed my phone from the side table and opened up the picture gallery. As soon as I found the picture I wanted, I brought it up and then held my phone up to the laptop so they could see it.

"No!" Carlisle gasped upon gazing at the picture. "Is that—"

"Yes," I interrupted, unable to keep a little bit of excitement from leaking into my voice. "The Treasured Heart. Well, we're at least ninety percent sure it is. She looks different than the sketches and artist renderings that we've seen over the years, but the heart part of it is identical to what we've seen."

"Holy shit! She's beautiful," Carlisle said, and I nodded my head in agreement. However, Carlisle's face became serious real quick a few seconds later.

"Please, promise me that you'll both be careful. That damned brooch has cost both of our families a lot of heartache, and I wouldn't put it past Caius to try and come after you if he finds out that you've found it."

"I know, Carlisle, and I promise we're being careful," I told him before Edward chimed in and let them know that it wouldn't be in our possession for much longer.

"The French government is sending out an archeologist or gemologist by the name of Leo Dubois to take the brooch back to France. Jasper and Alice will accompany him on the return trip to make sure that everything is documented and handled legally. That should happen by the end of the week."

"Good. It was no coincidence that Marcus was in the area where you found the shipwreck. Someone, whether it's someone in the French government or not, I don't know, let him know where you were. Be vigilant."

We both promised we would, but I would also be relieved when the Treasured Heart was off the ship. I, too, was afraid word was going to leak out, and I felt uneasy having something so rare and so valuable at my fingertips.

"Now, what else have you found?" he asked, and I was quick to fill him in on all the artifacts that we had recovered.

We ended up talking to Esme and Carlisle for almost two hours, and I realized just how much I missed them as we hung up. I was definitely going to have to take a vacation after our work was done and go visit them in Washington.

"That went way better than I expected," I admitted to Edward. "I honestly thought your dad was going to flip his shit or something."

"I was worried about that as well when I called him a few days ago to let him know about Marcus. All I could remember was how bitter and angry my dad had become after that summer, but we've, obviously, all grown and changed. He was incredibly calm and collected about it."

"I want to go visit them when we're done with all of this," I told him.

"Yeah?" he asked, a smile growing on his face. "You want to go to Forks?"

I nodded my head.

"I know my folks would love that. I would too," he said before placing a kiss on my lips.

I kissed him back, my fingers delving into his hair, and we lost ourselves in the kiss until we both had to breakaway to breathe.

Not that that stopped Edward from kissing, licking, and nibbling on my neck and collarbone, effectively turning me into mush.

At some point, we moved from the loveseat to his bed, and I found myself straddling him as our lips met in a frenzied kiss.

His large, calloused hands ran up and down my back until one of them slipped underneath my shirt, and I moaned at the feel of his warm hand on my bare back before he broke the kiss and pulled my shirt over my head.

His other hand found purchase in my hair and he gently gripped my ponytail as he maneuvered his mouth over mine.

I couldn't help but let out a moan as he gripped my hair tighter, and at some point, our pants disappeared and we were left I our underwear. Straddling him, my hips rolled over his, and I could tell just how turned on he was.

"Oh, shit," he mumbled against my lips as both of his hands moved down to my hips where he grabbed on to them.

He began to thrust his hips against mine, and I broke my lips away from his, tossing my head back as he hit the right spot over and over again.

"Let go, Bella," he said, his voice husky with want, and I did just that. It didn't take long, and Edward fell soon after me, his hands digging into my hips and my name being called from his lips.

As I slumped over him, trying to catch my breath, I found myself fighting sleep.

"Want to stay here tonight?" he asked as he brushed a loose piece of hair from my face.

"I'd love to. I need to grab some clothes, though," I said, but I made no move to get off of him, and he held me close.

Finally, I extracted myself from Edward, quickly cleaned up in the bathroom, and then dashed down the hall to my room.

Neither Dr. Tanner nor Jessica were in there, so it made it easier for me to grab a handful of clothes to take back to Edward's room. Hell, I might as well just pack my suitcase and move in with him because I'd spent almost every night in his room.

Not too much later, I was asleep in Edward's bed, his arms wrapped around me.

* * *

 **a/n: So, am I forgiven for this being later than usual today? As always, let me know what you thought!**


	15. Chapter 15

**A/N: So this posted yesterday, but I don't think any alerts went out! Thanks so much for reading/reviewing last week. I love hearing from you all. And a huge thanks to my beta, Heather!**

 **Now, there will be no chapter next week. We're moving into our new home, and I'll be busy moving and unpacking and probably won't have internet right away (although, I can't go without it for long, so I'm going to do my best to get installed asap).**

* * *

A little after ten the next morning, the crew had been called into the conference room so that we could have a meeting with Aro.

Jasper had told him of our findings and that we'd found the Treasured Heart, so I'd been surprised when Jasper had told us all the previous evening that Aro wanted to have a meeting with our team.

As soon as we were all seated, Jasper connected the conference call and Aro's voice came over the speaker in the room.

"Is everyone there, Dr. Whitlock?" Aro asked, not bothering with pleasantries, and I rolled my eyes. That was Aro for you. Always down to business.

"Yes," Jasper replied.

"Good. I spent most of the evening and several hours on the phone this morning with the French government."

"Why?" Jasper asked, a frown on his face.

Aro let out an irritated sigh at Jasper's question.

"Because I'm not ready to hand over our findings just yet."

Jasper opened his mouth to speak, but Aro must have known that Jasper would interrupt him once more because he spoke harshly a few seconds later.

"I have my reasons for not handing over everything right away," Aro barked over the phone. "I want to make sure that we did really find the Treasured Heart before we give it to the French government, and they have agreed with me. We will keep it in our possession until we have it tested."

"And the French agreed to this?" Emmett asked, sounding disbelieving, and I was right there with him. The Poseidon Group had signed a contract with the French government stating that we would hand over any and all findings, so what was Aro playing at?

"It took some convincing, but yes, Dr. McCarty, they have agreed to wait until we have the brooch authenticated as best as possible. Dr. Leo Dubois will still be arriving this afternoon to look over the artifacts that you've found, and he will be staying on the ship for the next week before going back to France and reporting his findings. I expect you all to treat him with the upmost respect."

I rolled my eyes at Aro's request. Like we would act anything less around a representative of the French government. We weren't amateurs. Sure, we joked around a lot, but we knew how to act like the professionals that we were. Well, most of us did.

"I'm making arrangements for the Treasured Heart to be brought back to our lab here by the beginning of next week. I'll let you know once I have everything ready."

Moments later, the call ended, and we were all left sitting there, more than a little confused.

"What's he playing at?" I asked, voicing my thoughts and breaking the silence that had fallen around us. "Is he trying to ruin Poseidon's reputation? If word gets out that we're breaking contracts with governments, we'll be ruined."

"I don't know, Bella. It seems as if he has worked things out with the French, so I think we'll be okay, but this certainly can't become a habit."

"We've never kept something from the company or government that's hired us before," Emmett stated. "So, why are we doing it now? You don't think he wants to keep the Treasured Heart, do you?"

Jasper shook his head as he told Emmett that would be incredibly stupid on Aro's part before calling an end to the meeting.

Several hours later, Jessica and I had come up from our last dive with more bags full of pottery that we'd found, and I saw a glimpse of Edward as he rushed out of the wheelhouse and toward Jasper.

"You've got an emergency call," Edward told him, and Jasper dropped what he was doing and rushed toward the wheelhouse, Alice on his heels.

"What's going on?" I asked Edward, who tossed an arm around my shoulders and gave me a quick kiss on the side of my head.

"There was an FBI agent on the line for Jasper," he told me, and my brow furrowed. Maybe it was Peter Charlotte calling to inform Jasper that they had miraculously caught Marcus Caius.

"Yeah, I don't think that's it," Edward replied as I told him my theory, and it seemed he was right because moments later, "Jasper came out of the wheelhouse, his face pale with tears in his eyes, and Alice was crying.

"What's wrong?" I asked.

"Maria's been shot," he told us. "It's pretty bad. I've got to go."

"Of course," Edward said. "Riley can take you to the mainland since he's going to pick up that Dubois guy anyway."

Jasper nodded his thanks, and I couldn't help but give him a hug and tell him that I hoped Maria was going to be okay.

"Thanks, Bella," he said quietly. "I need to talk to Dr. Tanner before we leave. She's got seniority, so she's going to be in charge of the excavation until I get back."

I nodded my head in understanding. I wouldn't have it any other way. Dr. T had worked many more sites than I had, and I trusted her completely.

* * *

By five that evening, Riley had dropped Jasper and Alice off at the mainland of Cape Verde and was on his way back with Dr. Leo Dubois.

I admitted to Edward and Dr. T that I was a bit nervous about interacting with Dubois. The man had originally been told he'd be flying back to France with the brooch, and now that wasn't the case. It would be understandable if the man was pissed, and I wouldn't blame him. I just hoped that he didn't take it out on us since it wasn't our idea to keep the brooch in our possession.

Edward, ever the captain, was the first to greet Dubois and helped him board the _Arrakis_.

"Welcome aboard, Monsieur Dubois. I'm Edward Cullen, the captain of this ship.

"A pleasure to meet you, Capitaine Cullen," Dubois said as he shook Edward's hand. Leo Dubois was a tall, thin man in his forties with a receding hairline, wearing a floral shirt and a pair of khakis. He looked like a tourist vacationing in Hawaii.

"This is Dr. Tanner, she's in charge of the excavation," Edward said by way of introduction. "And this is Dr. Swan, our other maritime archeologist on the vessel."

Dr. Tanner and I both shook hands with Leo Dubois, who had a huge smile on his face and excitement in his eyes. He didn't seem all that upset that the brooch wasn't going to be making the trip back to France with him.

"I'm sorry Dr. Whitlock isn't here to meet you," Dr. T said. "He had a family emergency and had to leave on short notice."

"I hope everything is okay," he said with a heavy accent.

"Us as well," I said before asking him if he'd spoken to Aro. Dr. Dubois nodded his head and said that he understood that Aro wanted to have it tested before handing it over.

"Our government isn't too happy, but they are willing to work with him," he told us. "I was hoping I'd still be able to see the Coeur Précieux. May I see it?"

I nodded my head before leading him down to the research room.

Dr. Tanner followed behind me and began to explain how we'd come across the brooch. Dubois asked some questions here and there, but his eyes were focused on the container that I took out of the locked safe.

I set the box down that held the Treasured Heart, and then I unlocked it before slowly opening it up.

"Sainte Mère de Dieu," he mumbled as he stared at the brooch nestled inside the box. "May I?"

Dr. T handed him a pair of gloves, and as soon as he had them on, he gently reached into the box and took out the brooch.

He mumbled to himself in French as he looked over the brooch before setting it down and pulling out a jewelry loupe.

Dubois spent close to fifteen minutes, examining the brooch before handing it back to me, and I tucked it back in the box and locked it before putting it back in the safe.

"Well?" Dr. Tanner asked, and Dubois told us that he was almost one hundred percent certain that we had, indeed, found the Treasured Heart.

"Yeah, we think so too," I told him before going on to show him everything else we had found.

Dr. Dubois was thrilled with our findings, and he kept gushing over all the artifacts that we'd brought up as well as the pictures we showed him of the hull.

Once we'd shown him everything, we invited him to dine with us in the galley. He was a very happy guy, reminding me of Emmett in that respect, and he continued to gush over the finding of the ship.

Once he was done eating, Riley offered to show Dr. Dubois where he would be bunking for the next week, and as I watched the man follow Riley out of the galley, I was left with conflicting feelings regarding the man.

"What do you think of him?" I asked Dr. T.

"He seems enthusiastic, almost overly enthusiastic, and I'm not sure if that's a good thing or a bad thing," she told me.

"I agree. I figured he was sent here to, well, spy on us. Okay, not spy, per say, but he was probably told to stay longer so that he could keep an eye on the excavation. I guess I can't fault the French for that."

Dr. T agreed with me, and I had a feeling that I would need to keep a close eye on Dr. Dubois. I didn't think he'd do anything to damage our artifacts or our work on the _Sirene_ , but you never knew.

* * *

"Oh, God," I moaned as Edward's teeth nipped the skin on my neck, and I shuddered as a wave of lust rolled over me. I'd never realized how sensitive my neck was before, or maybe it was Edward himself that was turning me on.

"Lift your arms up," Edward murmured as his hands reached for the bottom of my shirt, and I groaned at the loss of his mouth on me as he slid my shirt over my head.

Soon, his mouth was back on my neck as his fingers unhooked my bra, and he slid the straps down my arms and tossed the bra somewhere on the floor.

"Gorgeous," he told me as he looked at me, and I blushed at his words. He certainly made me feel gorgeous.

His large, warm hands slid up my torso and cupped my breasts, rubbing his thumb over my nipples, making them even harder.

I let out a gasp when his head moved lower and his lips wrapped around one of my nipples. It felt amazing, and my fingers delved into his hair as he sucked and nibbled, and I was a quivering mess by the time he'd repeated his actions on my other nipple.

We had been teasing each other for weeks now, but we hadn't gone past foreplay, and I was tired of waiting. I grasped the bottom of his shirt, tugging it up, and he broke away from me in order to take off his shirt. While he was doing that, my hands went to the belt buckle that was holding his khaki shorts up, and I quickly undid it, pulling it open and reaching for his zipper.

Moments later, he was stepping out of his khakis and standing there in nothing but a pair of black boxer briefs that fit him like a second skin, and there was no doubt that he was enjoying what we were doing.

I moved closer to him, tilted my head up for a kiss as my fingers slid past the waistband of his boxer briefs, and I ran a finger along the head of his cock, grinning at the moan that escaped his lips.

"These need to go," I told him before I began to pull them off.

"Yours need to go too," he mumbled against my lips, and I nodded my head as I shoved my shorts and underwear off, and soon, we were both naked and making our way toward his bed.

Our lips barely parted as he climbed onto his bed, pulling me on top of him and causing me to almost lose my balance.

I braced myself over him, groaning as our hips met, and his hard cock rubbed against me, causing all sorts of wonderful feelings to wash over me.

"Condom?" he asked, and I shook my head. I was on the pill, and we were both clean, so I was fine with us going without a condom.

"Are you sure?" he mumbled as his lips found a nipple, and I gasped out a yes as he tugged gently.

His hands ran down my sides to my hips, and I lifted myself up, grasping his cock in my hand and lining him up.

We both let out loud moans as he slid inside, and he felt amazing.

"Don't move," he said through gritted teeth, his hands grasping my hips almost painfully.

I stayed as still as I could for a moment, trying to hold back a grin at the fact that Edward was fighting for control, and I was the one who had made him almost lose it.

Of course, I lost all train of thought the second he began to move.

It started off slow, sweet, and sensual until I couldn't take anymore, and I begged Edward to move faster and thrust harder.

He rolled us over, and I wrapped my legs around his waist as he began an almost frantic pace.

My nails dug into his back as I met him, thrust for thrust, and I let out a loud moan as one of his hands snuck between us and began to rub my clit.

I was so primed that it didn't take long for my orgasm to overtake me, and I yelled out Edward's name as I clenched around him. He followed me shortly, growling my name before he collapsed on top of me.

I held him to me as his head resting against my chest, and I fought to catch my breath.

He moved his head slightly to nuzzle my neck and placed a long, warm kiss there before moving and settling beside me. Edward pulled me into his side, placed a kiss to my lips, and grabbed the blankets to cover us.

Edward fell asleep fairly quickly, and I found myself staring at him, smiling at how relaxed he looked.

I was completely and irrevocably in love with him.

* * *

 **a/n: So, there you go! I'll see you all in two weeks!**


	16. Chapter 16

**A/N: Hey, gang! Thanks for waiting for this chapter. We're moved into our new house, but are nowhere near unpacked. Eh, I've got time to do that I suppose. Well, I won't keep you. On you go. Huge thanks to my beta for being so awesome!**

* * *

The week passed by quickly, and Dr. Dubois had proven to be quite the asset. I'd been worried about him constantly being underfoot, but he'd kept out of our way and had offered his own knowledge regarding the _Sirene_ as well as his knowledge on the artifacts that we had found.

Monday morning there would be no diving as a storm had arisen during the night, so we were all stuck inside. To be honest, I didn't mind having a day off from diving to just focus on the artifacts that we had brought up.

Dr. Tanner, Dr. Dubois, and I spent several hours, going over all the various pottery and dishes we had discovered, and it was only after my stomach let out a loud rumble that I realized we had been working for five hours straight.

We all agreed to take a break, and while I was eating lunch in the wheelhouse with Edward, a phone call came through for me from Jasper.

"How's Maria?" I asked him as soon as I answered.

"She's in critical condition, but she's stable," he told me, his voice sounding tired.

"Do they know what happened?"

He told me that while she and Peter had been investigating my father's murder case, someone had opened fire on them. They had been looking into Caius' friends and contacts, and Jasper figured they must have stumbled upon something.

"Is Agent Charlotte okay?" I asked him.

"He'll live. He was hit in the shoulder twice, but he's demanding that they release him. His boss is trying to talk him into staying."

Having met Agent Charlotte, I wished his boss the best of luck because I had a feeling that man did what he wanted, orders be damned.

"Listen, I'm calling because I've been in contact with Aro. He stopped by the hospital last night to talk to me."

I held back a curse at Jasper's words. It was just like Aro to ignore the fact that Jasper was dealing with a family emergency and show up at the hospital to have a meeting.

"What did he want?" I asked as I put the phone on speaker so that Edward could hear as well.

"He wanted to discuss bringing the Treasured Heart back here. He wanted my opinion on who should accompany the brooch back to the states, and I told him that I'd prefer you do it."

"But—"

"I know you want to stay and finish excavating the ship, but I don't trust anyone more than I trust you to handle the care and delivery of the brooch."

"Okay," I said with a sigh. "But, I'm coming back here as soon as we have confirmation that the brooch is the Treasured Heart."

"Of course," Jasper replied before Edward broke in.

"Jasper, I'm not comfortable with Bella traveling alone with the brooch," he said, a concerned look in his eyes.

"Neither am I," Jasper told him. "Which is why I was going to ask you to go with."

"You can't ask him to do that!" I spluttered. "He's the captain! He needs to be here in case something happens."

As if I hadn't spoken at all, Edward told Jasper that he was on board, and I stared at him.

"When do we leave for the states?" Edward asked.

Jasper told us we were to fly out early tomorrow morning and to expect to be gone for at least three weeks.

"Edward!" I attempted to protest yet again, but looking at me, he shook his head as he told Jasper we'd keep him informed and that we'd talk to him later.

"Riley is perfectly capable of captaining the ship while we're gone. I want this brooch off the ship, and if that means leaving for three weeks, so be it."

An hour later, we let the crew know we'd be leaving for the states the following day, and Dr. Dubois was going to catch a ride with us to the mainland so he could get a flight back to France.

"Edward, can I have a word?" Seth asked, and Edward nodded, excusing himself from me.

I watched as Seth told Edward something, and judging by the look on Edward's face, he didn't like what Seth was saying.

"Fine!" Edward snarled before making his way back to me.

"What's wrong?"

"Jacob fucking Black is going to be riding with us to Praia. Apparently, he's had some sort of family emergency and needs to catch a plane ride home."

"Lovely," I muttered, thinking about what a fun trip that was going to be. Thankfully, we were only taking the boat to Praia, Cape Verde and not over to Casablanca which would have been a four day trip. As it was, the few hours of travel we had were far too many to be cooped up with Jacob Black.

* * *

The next morning, Edward and I said our goodbyes and boarded the small ship that was being captained by another member of Edward's crew. There were only six of us, and I was thankful there was enough space that I wouldn't have to spend the four-and-a-half hour trip too close to Jacob.

About twenty minutes before we arrived in port, I pulled myself away from Edward and made my way to the bathroom.

Once I was done, I passed by the galley and saw Dr. Dubois and Black sitting at a table, talking. It wasn't my intention to eavesdrop, but I couldn't help but stop when I heard Black asking Dr. Dubois about the Treasured Heart.

"So, do you think it's the real thing?"

"Oui, I believe so. Of course, we will know for sure once Dr. Swan gets the brooch tested," Dubois replied.

"How much do you think it's worth?" Black asked conversationally, and I frowned at his words. He had barely seemed to care about the dive or the brooch the whole time we'd been out here, and now he was asking how much it was worth.

"Millions of euros, I would think. Maybe more, maybe less," Dubois said with a shrug. "It all depends on the authenticity of the brooch as well as the condition that the jewels are in."

Having heard enough, I escaped back to the sitting area, grabbed Edward's hand, and dragged him on to the deck.

"Black's asking about the estimated price of the Treasured Heart," I muttered once we were out of earshot of the two crewmen on the deck.

"He was asking Newton the same thing the other day when I was on the _Icarus_ talking to Seth," he told me.

"You don't think he's going to try and steal it, do you?" I asked him, and Edward ran a hand through his hair.

"If he is, he'll wait until it's been authenticated, I would think, but then again, I don't know. I'm going to go check the safe," he told me, and I nodded.

The Treasured Heart was stored in a locked box, with me having the only combination memorized, and we'd stowed it away in the safe on board the ship. The captain and Edward were the only ones with the key to the safe, but with all the technology out there, it probably wouldn't be all that hard to break into it.

Ten minutes went by before Edward came back and gave me a small nod to let me know the brooch was still locked up safely. I let out a small sigh, but I knew I wouldn't feel better until the brooch was in the capable hands of the gemologist that Poseidon used and then put under lock and key in the vault owned by Poseidon.

* * *

A little over sixteen hours later, we landed in Miami, and I was so fucking ready to be off the plane and away from Jacob Black.

Aro had booked tickets for all three of us, something I found strange since Jacob's reasoning for coming back to the States was a family emergency. His seat was in the row behind us, and he'd spent several hours, making snide comments. It had only been by shear willpower that I hadn't turned around and punched him in the face, and I was pretty sure that my death grip on Edward's arm had been the only thing keeping him from tearing Jacob to pieces.

Needless to say, I couldn't get off that plane and away from Jacob fast enough. Of course, it wasn't that easy. We had to go through customs, and I had to show documented paperwork in regards to the Treasured Heart.

Finally, I was through customs and caught up with Edward who had been waiting for me.

"Where to?" he asked.

"The office," I told him as we stepped out in the sunshine and heat.

Twenty minutes later, we were exiting the elevator on the third floor that Poseidon occupied.

"Dr. Swan! How are you?" a voice called out, and I turned and smiled when I saw one of our interns, Hannah, rushing my way.

"Exhausted," I told her with a smile. "We've had a long trip."

"Rumor has it that you guys found the _Sirene_."

"For once, rumors are right."

I chatted with her for a few minutes before excusing myself and making my way toward the last door at the end of the hallway with Edward trailing behind me. He'd only been in the office once before, so I promised to show him around once we'd delivered the Treasured Heart.

I knocked on the slightly ajar door that housed Sam Uley's lab and popped my head around the door, and calling out a hello.

"Dr. Swan! Come in, come in," she said, and I entered the lab with Edward at my heels.

"Aro said that you'd be by sometime today," she said as she pulled out gloves from a drawer and began to set up some equipment.

I didn't have a clue what the equipment did, but Dr. Uley was well known in her field, and I trusted her.

After introducing her to Edward, I set the case down on a table, unlocked it, and let her get a look at the Treasured Heart.

"It's beautiful," she said quietly. "Authentic or not, this brooch is gorgeous."

The next ten minutes were spent filling out paperwork stating that I was handing custody of the brooch over to Dr. Uley, and she promised to call Jasper as soon as she knew anything.

With a wave, Edward and I left her lab, and I asked if he minded if we went to the hospital to see Jasper. According to Alice, he'd barely left his sister's side.

As we were leaving the building, I noticed a familiar car in the parking lot.

"I thought he had a family emergency," I muttered as I watched Jacob Black climb out of his expensive sports car, sunglasses on his face and a smirk on his face as he talked on his phone.

"Maybe he needed something from the office," Edward suggested.

"Yeah, maybe," I muttered as I unlocked my truck.

I watched Jacob for a few more minutes as he laughed and talked on the phone, and he sure didn't seem like a person who was dealing with a family emergency.

* * *

"You delivered the Treasured Heart then?" Jasper asked us as we sat in the small waiting area near his sister's hospital room.

"Yep, it's in Dr. Uley's capable hands now."

"Good," he said, rubbing a hand over his face, looking exhausted.

"How's Maria?" I asked him.

"Better. She should make a full recovery, but she's got a long road ahead of her," he told us.

"Well, I'm glad to hear that," I said before Jasper asked us how things had been on the ship while he'd been gone.

Edward and I told him that things had gone pretty well and that Dr. Dubois hadn't seemed too upset that the Treasured Heart wasn't going back with him.

"And Jacob?" Jasper asked. "He's been behaving himself?"

"Yeah, he's mainly stayed on the Icarus," Edward replied, and I nodded my head in agreement.

"However, he is here in Miami. He caught the same flight as us. Said he had a family emergency."

"Huh," was Jasper's response.

Edward and I stayed for a few more minutes before taking our leave after giving both Jasper and Alice hugs.

"Where to now?" Edward asked, letting out a yawn, and I was right there with him. I was fucking exhausted, and I wanted nothing more than some food and a nap.

"How about we pick up some burgers and then go back to my place? I could use a nap."

We got some cheeseburgers and milkshakes from a fast food chain before going to my condo. I picked up my mail from Mrs. Cope even though I had told her I could just have it held at the post office, and we made our way to my place.

The condo was stifling after having been closed up for so long, so I opened up some windows to air the place out before turning the air conditioning on.

"It'll cool down soon enough," I told Edward as I grabbed a couple of paper plates out of the kitchen cupboard and placed them on the small dining room table.

As soon as we were done eating, I shut the windows while Edward threw away our garbage, and then we made our way to my bedroom.

We stripped off our clothes and climbed under the covers, and we were both out like a light. The stress of the day as well as the past week forgotten.

* * *

 **a/n: As always, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.**


	17. Chapter 17

**A/N: Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing last chapter. Now, this chapter is a bit shorter than normal, but hopefully you enjoy it. Huge thanks to Heather for her awesome beta skills and insight.**

* * *

 **Stranger POV**

"Well? Is it the Treasured Heart?" I demanded to know as soon as I answered the phone.

"I believe so," Jacob said. "Swan and her fuckboy, Cullen, just dropped the brooch off at the Poseidon lab for testing."

"How long is that going to take?"

"I don't know. A few days maybe," he said, and I rolled my eyes at his casual attitude. There was nothing casual about what we were doing.

"This isn't a fucking game, Jacob," I hissed over the phone. "Do not fuck this up! If you fail in your mission, I will ruin you."

"Chill out, Dad," he sneered, and I gritted my teeth. Jacob Black might be my son, but it was in the biological sense only. I'd never even known the whelp existed until he'd hunted me down when he was nineteen, begging for money. I'd helped him out, paid for his college education, his Ph.D., his house, and his car. He owed me, and I'd called in my debt.

"Don't fucking tell me to chill out," I snarled. "I need that fucking brooch, and I don't think I need to remind you that you owe me."

"How could I forget when you're constantly reminding me?" he said, bitterness evident in his voice. "I'll get the damn brooch for you, and then we're fucking done."

Ha! We weren't close to be doing done, but if that's what he wanted to think, then I'd let him. I had a few more jobs for him to do after the Treasured Heart was in my hands.

"Meet me in Winterville Forest in five days, and if you don't have the brooch in your hands—"

"I'll have it!" Jacob interrupted, and I narrowed my eyes at the man's insolence. His attitude needed adjusting, and I knew just the person for the job. I made a mental note to give Renata a call. She was well-versed in the world of torture and pain, and she would straighten Jacob out quickly.

"I'll see you then," I said, hanging up on him and pocketing the phone. I grabbed my bag off the hotel bed and made my way out of the room and onto the streets of Barcelona.

Passing by a trashcan, I tossed the phone into it and kept on moving, hailing a taxi and making my way to the airport. I had a seventeen hour flight ahead of me and another three hour drive from the airport to Winterville Forest, and I wasn't looking forward to either.

* * *

Twenty-four hours later, I was sitting at a small table in the secluded cabin, sipping whiskey from a glass and staring down at the picture of Marcus Caius on my tablet. He'd been a small-time fence when I'd first met him, and I'd mistakenly thought he'd had potential to grow and learn and become an integral part of my organization. A little over fifteen years ago, I'd caught him stealing some of the rare artifacts that I'd collect and trying to sell them; artifacts that I'd collected; artifacts that had been promised to high paying clients. Caius had paid dearly for his mistake, however, he still owed me millions in compensation, and he'd sworn on his mother's life that he'd pay me back.

That was when Caius had become obsessed with the Treasured Heart. He'd spent hours, trying to convince me that he knew the location of where the ship carrying it had gone down, and he swore that he'd find it and allow me to sell it to the highest bidder, and then his debt would be cleared.

I had to admit, the appeal of having a rare artifact such as the Treasured Heart appealed to me, so I'd agreed to his harebrained idea. Of course, things had not gone according to his plan, and he'd ended up a fugitive, wanted for murder and attempted murder. Now, many of my employees, as well as myself, had committed murder, but we'd made sure not to get caught or leave witnesses. Caius had failed on that front and had spent the past fifteen years on the run and in hiding from law enforcement.

I'd caught up with him about ten years ago and demanded at least two million in cash or else I'd kill his wife and daughter. It's amazing how quickly people come up with money when they're properly motivated.

Caius had promised to get me the rest of the money before the year was out, but he hadn't. He'd gone silent and fallen off the grid, and I'd spent the past ten years, hunting him down. What had been a manageable debt at the time had accrued ten years worth of high interest so his debt was now close to fifteen million, and I wanted my money.

So, imagine my surprise when my good-for-nothing son began fucking Caius' teenage daughter. I'd invited them both over for dinner at my house in Los Angeles, and I'd carefully questioned the girl on the whereabouts of her father. She'd mentioned that she still spoke to him occasionally, and she'd brought up the fact that he'd resumed his search for the _Sirene_ and the Treasured Heart. My interest had immediately been piqued because I wanted that brooch for myself, and I was going to cut the middle man, that being Caius, out of the equation. I was going to get that brooch, and that was when I'd called in Jacob's debt.

Demitri Aro, the owner of the Poseidon Group, an organization that specialized in salvaging sunken ships, owed me a favor and had hired Jacob in favor of cancelling his debt. To his credit, Jacob was good at his job and kept his ear to the ground, informing me of any knew information regarding the _Sirene_ , and it was Jacob that had found the location of the shipwreck. I have no idea how he did it, but after the Poseidon Group's first attempt to locate the wreck, which had been a failure, Jacob had thrown himself into finding the _Sirene_.

Once he was positive of the location, he called me and asked me to help him out. He couldn't just go to his boss, whose sister just happened to be an FBI Agent, looking for Caius thanks to Jacob's girlfriend fucking things up, and say he found it, so I came up with a plan. Jacob told me that Whitlock was going to France to look for clues, so I called up an old friend of mine, Hugo Petit, who was a master forger. With Jacob's information about the _Sirene_ , Hugo wrote an extremely convincing letter that he led Whitlock to find. It had worked out perfectly.

Now, the Treasured Heart was on American soil and would be in my hands in four-days'-time.

* * *

I was woken up the following morning by the ringing of my satellite phone, and I let out a snarl as I answered it.

"This had better be good."

"I'm sorry to wake you, sir," Chelsea, my secretary said, and I let out a sigh as I apologized to her.

"No, I'm the one who's sorry. I didn't mean to snap at you," I said.

"I have Afton on the line," she told me before she put him through.

Afton Valentina had worked for me for close to thirty years, and he was one of my most trusted men. I knew if I gave him a task, he'd get it done, no matter how difficult it proved to be. I'd assigned the assassination of Caius to a younger man in my organization, one who was eager to prove himself, while Afton was working on something else for me, and that had turned out to be a huge mistake. The young man had failed to kill Caius, so needless to say, he no longer worked for me and his body would never be found.

"I've found Caius," Afton said as soon as he was on the phone.

"Is he alive?"

"He is until you give me the order to terminate," he said in his cool tone.

"Not yet, Afton. He could still be useful."

"I doubt that," I heard Afton mutter, but I let it slide. I had a plan. I needed Whitlock's salvage crew out of the picture.

"Initiate contact," I told him. "Tell him that I have a job for him, and if he does it, then I will clear his debt."

"Certainly, sir. And the details of this job?"

"To sink the ships working on the excavation of the _Sirene_."

"He will fail," Afton said, his voice flat.

"That is a possibility," I admitted. "Make sure he knows that this is his last chance. If he fails, his life as well as that of his daughter's will be over."

"I'll let him know," Afton said before telling me he'd keep me informed and then hung up.

* * *

 **Jacob's POV**

"Fuck, fuck, fuck," I muttered as I hung up the phone with my father. The man was a fucking asshole, but he was a scary fucking asshole. I knew, without a doubt, that he would kill me in a heartbeat if I went against him, and I was regretting ever hunting the man down.

When I'd been in my late teens, I'd discovered who my real father was, and despite my mother's wishes, I'd gone to visit him. I'd wanted to go to college, but I didn't have the funds. He helped me out with the agreement that I'd pay him back within five years of graduating. At nineteen, that had seemed like a great idea, but as the years went on, I found myself falling deeper and deeper into debt with him.

He'd bought my house in Coconut Grove, one of the most influential neighborhoods in Miami, my Jaguar, and he'd gotten me my job. I owed my father close to four million dollars, and I was at his beck and call until my debt was paid which was why I was going to risk my career and my life to steal a rare piece of jewelry.

Once I was home, I poured myself a double of scotch and sat down on my couch to think out my plan, and I needed to have one. I couldn't just waltz into Poseidon and take the Treasured Heart. Well, I could, but I would have to show my ID to the security guard as well as scan my keycard to enter the office floor. There were would be a record of my entering the building, and if the brooch went missing after I'd just been there, then I would be the prime suspect, and that would not go down well with daddy dearest. There was nothing he hated more than having someone who worked for him, calling attention to themselves.

I spent hours trying to come up with a plan that wouldn't get me arrested when my phone rang, and I saw it was Heidi.

"Fucking hell," I muttered as I let my phone go to voicemail. I'd met her earlier this summer, and she'd been an easy lay. I'd made it well known from the beginning that I was only in it for a good time, and that I wasn't looking for a relationship. She'd gotten clingy almost right away, and I'd let her know, flat out, that we were fuck buddies and nothing more, but she was having a hard time accepting that.

The easiest thing to do was to ignore her and possibly change my number. She was a complication that I didn't need.

Turning off my phone, I got up and poured myself some more scotch and went back to think things over. I thought about hiring someone to break into Poseidon for me, but there was no one that I trusted not to double cross me.

By two in the morning, I had a plan, and I was eager to implement it and get the brooch to my father. It wasn't fool proof, but it would work, and that was all that mattered.

* * *

 **a/n: As always, let me know what you thought.**


	18. Chapter 18

**A/N: Sorry for the delay, folks! Here you go! As always, thanks for reading/reviewing and a huge thanks to my beta for getting this to me despite being unwell!**

* * *

I was sprawled across Edward's chest, both of us sweaty and breathing heavy. We'd been watching a movie, and one thing had led to another, and we'd ended up in bed. This has been a recurring theme since we'd returned to Miami a few days ago, and I wasn't complaining. Not one bit. I loved being with Edward, and the past few days had been bliss because it was just the two of us. There was no worrying about someone knocking on the door to our cabin, there was no worrying about an emergency arising that required Edward's attention, and there was no teasing from Emmett.

"I should move," I said into Edward's chest, and his arms around my back tightened.

"Nah, you're fine where you are," he said in a voice thick with sleep, and it wasn't long until we both nodded off.

We were woken up by someone knocking loudly on the door to my condo.

"Whoever the fuck is beating on the door is going to die a painful death," I muttered as I climbed out of the bed, tossed on an old, beat up robe, and made my way toward the door.

I looked through the peephole and found Jasper and Ali on the other side, and Jasper looked pissed.

"Bella!" he hollered as he began to knock again.

"Calm down, bro," I snapped as I opened the door and gave him a glare.

Jasper pushed passed me, a dark look on his face and his eyes flashing with anger, and I looked at Ali with a raised eyebrow, but she shook her head slightly.

"Have a seat while I get dressed," I said before rushing off to the bedroom before Jasper could object.

"Edward!" I hissed as I slammed the door shut.

"What?" he asked as his head popped out from underneath the covers.

"Jasper's here, and he's pissed about something," I told him as I put on a pair of workout shorts, a bra, some deodorant, and tossed on an old t-shirt.

"Ugh," was Edward's reply as he climbed out of the bed. He stood there, stretching, and my eyes traveled down his body. Naked Edward was a sight to behold, and if Jasper and Ali weren't in the living room, I'd be all over him.

Turning away from him, I tossed a shirt from his duffle bag at him.

"Clothes," I told him. "I'll go try to tame the beast that resembles Jasper."

He gave me a nod as well as a quick kiss on the lips, and then I left the room to see if I could calm Jasper down.

* * *

"So, what's going on?" Edward asked less than five minutes later as he came into the living room, a can of pop in his hand, and sat down on the couch after giving Ali a quick hug.

"When was the last time you saw the Treasured Heart?" Jasper asked us.

"When we dropped it off at the lab to Dr. Uley. Why?" I answered.

"Because it's gone missing," he snarled.

"What?!" Edward and I both said at the same time as I stared at him in disbelief. How the fuck could the Treasured Heart be missing?

"Missing? Like misplaced, or like stolen?" I asked.

"Stolen as in it's gone, as in someone took it," he said, a hint of accusation in his voice.

"I know that you aren't trying to accuse Edward or me of stealing it because that would be fucking stupid," I snarled back.

"Well, the two of you had it last—"

"Shut up, Jasper!" Ali interrupted, startling all of us. She'd been quiet, which was so unlike her that I'd almost forgotten she was even there.

"You know damn well that neither Bella nor Edward took the brooch. Calm yourself, and sit your ass down!" she said in a menacing tone, and Jasper plopped his butt in the nearest chair, his arms crossed over his chest.

"Jasper doesn't mean to be an asshole," she told us. "He's just upset because it appearx the Treasured Heart has been stolen from the Poseidon office. Dr. Uley locked it up after she'd examined it, and when she went to show it to Aro this morning, it was missing. Needless to say, Aro is pissed, and he's throwing out accusations left and right. Dr. Uley has been put on unpaid leave until the police are done investigating."

"Well, it damn well wasn't us, and you know it!" I snapped.

"I know, I know," Jasper said, an apologetic look on his face. "I'm sorry. I'm just stressed. Aro is freaking out, the French government is sure to freak out, and this is going to destroy Poseidon's reputation."

I winced at his words because he was right. Having a rare artifact stolen from our possession was sure to destroy Poseidon's reputation, and it would take the company a long time to come back from a hit like this.

"This has Marcus Caius written all over it," I muttered a few minutes later, and Jasper's head snapped up.

"Jesus!" he murmured. "I'd totally forgotten about him in all the excitement of finding the Treasured Heart and then with Maria getting shot. I'll let the police know that he's got a motive. Anyone else come to mind?"

"What about Black?" Edward suggested. "He was in the Poseidon parking lot when we dropped the brooch off to Dr. Uley."

"That's right! He was!"

"Why isn't Black on the _Icarus_?" Jasper asked, a frown on his face.

"He said he had a family emergency, so he caught a plane back with us," I explained.

"What kind of family emergency? Is someone in the hospital? Did someone die?" Jasper asked, and I shrugged. As much as Jacob Black liked to talk, he'd never once mentioned his family.

"No clue," I said.

The frown on Jasper's face deepened before he told us that as far as he knew, Black's only living relative was his mother who lived across the country in New Mexico.

"Seth told me right before we left to come back here that Black was acting strange," Edward said, and I looked at him in surprise because he'd never said anything to me about it.

"Strange how?" Jasper asked.

"He said he's been real secretive and talking on his satellite phone a lot. Seth figures he's got a married girlfriend back here or something."

"Guess I'll go have a talk with Black, just to check up on him as a concerned employer, of course. See if I can't learn anything," Jasper said. "In the meantime, the police will want to talk to both of you."

"Okay," I said with a sigh, not really wanting to talk to the cops but knowing we had to. "And as far as Black goes, just have Rose look into him," I suggested. "It might not be legal, but you know that she can find anything out about anyone."

"Was his keycard used to enter the building when the Treasured Heart went missing?" Edward asked

"No, the only keycard entry that seemed strange was that of Sam Uley's. It showed her entering the building several hours after she'd said she'd left. The police are looking into every possibility, but I highly doubt Jacob Black is on their list of suspects. As for having Rose look into him, I might do that."

"What about the security footage?" I asked, and Jasper shook his head as he told us that the security cameras had been fucked with.

Jasper and Alice stayed for another hour before leaving to go talk to the police once more and then to visit Jasper's sister.

After they left, I sat on the couch, still in shock over what Jasper had told us. It was as if all our hard work had been for naught. We'd spent months, looking for the _Sirene,_ and after finding it, we'd spent ages excavating it. Then finally, we'd been rewarded with finding the Treasured Heart. And now—now, I felt betrayed and incredibly angry.

"Bella?" Edward asked, and I looked over at him, blinking back the stupid tears that were threatening to fall. It was stupid to cry over an object that wasn't even mine, and crying wasn't going to solve the problem.

"I'm fine," I told him, and the look he gave me said he didn't believe me.

"Okay, I'm not fine. I'm fucking pissed off. I know that people steal artifacts, but this feels personal. It's like they stole from me! Which is dumb because the Treasured Heart wasn't mine, but in a way, it was. I worked my ass trying to find it, as did everyone on the team, and then bam! It's taken from us. It's such bullshit!"

Edward wrapped his arms around me as I lost it, ugly crying all while cursing whomever had done this. When I was done, I sat back, wiped my eyes, and apologized.

"Don't be stupid, Bella. I'm pissed off and upset too. We will find out who did this."

"And then what?" I asked. "By the time, Caius is found, because there's no doubt in my mind he's behind this, the Treasured Heart will have been sold to the highest bidder.

* * *

The last three days had been hell. The Treasured Heart had been stolen, there were no leads on whom had taken it, we'd had to talk to the police and the FBI, and Jasper had informed us that we needed to get back to the ship and continue working. There was no way I was going to be able to focus on work with the stolen brooch hanging over my head, and I'd let Jasper know that.

"We can't just go back to work!" I'd shouted over the phone at Jasper. "We need to find the fucking brooch!"

"The authorities are handling it," he'd snapped back. "Do I need to remind you that your job is to finish excavating the _Sirene_ , and Edward's job is to captain the ship?"

I'd been furious with him, and then Edward and I had gotten into an argument about it. Edward had agreed with Jasper that our job was to get back to the ship and finish what we were getting paid to do, and I had snapped at him, too.

He was currently sleeping on the sofa while I was lying in bed, fuming over the words we'd exchanged.

We were due to be at the airport in under four hours, and I'd yet to get any sleep. It was hard to sleep when my mind kept going over the heated words that Edward and I had exchanged.

The worst part of it all was that I knew both Edward and Jasper were right. There was nothing more we could do here except hope like hell that the police found whomever stole the Treasured Heart and found the brooch as well.

A few hour later, I was showered and dressed, my bags packed and ready to go to the airport. Edward and I had yet to exchange any words, and I hated the tension between us, but I wasn't ready to apologize just yet. Besides, he'd been a jerk as well.

It wasn't until we were on our way to the airport that we both ended up apologizing to each other.

"I'm sorry," I told Edward as we rode in the cab. "I'm just so … frustrated. I don't know how we're supposed to just go back to work and pretend that nothing happened. I don't know even know if the rest of the team knows that it's been stolen."

"I'm sorry, too," Edward said, a hand running through his messy hair. "I didn't mean to yell at you. This whole situation sucks."

Truer words were never spoken.

* * *

"You're back!" Emmett shouted as he wrapped me up in a huge hug the very moment I set foot on the ship, and I hugged him back.

"I wasn't gone that long, Em."

"Long enough, B. Things have been interesting in the time you've been gone," he told me, and I almost let out a snort. He had no idea just how "interesting" things were.

Jasper had informed Edward and me that he was going to be holding a satellite conference later with Emmett, Rose, Dr. T, and Jessica, regarding the stolen brooch. When I'd asked why he was only telling them, he told me that they were the people he trusted explicitly. He was worried that it was possible that someone on the crew or on our team had been compromised or was working with Black or Caius. It was a terrifying thought to think that we'd been betrayed by someone we knew, but I was pretty sure we had been, and the culprit's name was Jacob Black.

I spent my first two hours back on the _Arrakis,_ getting caught up on what I'd missed over the past week. Dr. T and Jessica had been incredibly busy, and I was impressed with the amount of work they'd gotten done.

I was busy reading up on yesterday's report findings when Dr. T told me that Jasper had called a meeting, and she began to make her way toward the door.

"Are you coming with?" she asked me, and I shook my head.

"No, I know what he wants to talk to some of you about. I'm going to stay here and finish reading these reports."

By the time Dr. T made her way back to the research room, I had finished reading the reports and was currently sifting through various containers to explore the contents.

"I …," Dr. T started to say before trailing off and sitting down heavily on a stool near the table.

"I know," I told her as I put away the container I was looking in. "It was one hell of a shock when Jasper told me."

"I'm completely shocked," she said. "I'm not so naïve as to think that this kind of thing doesn't happen. Obviously, it does, but I never thought it would happen to our team. In all the years I've worked at Poseidon, we've never had an artifact stolen straight out of our own building."

She took a deep breath before continuing. She told me how Jasper had told them that Marcus Caius was a suspect, and I nodded my head.

"But, how?" she asked, her brow furrowed. "How did Caius know that we had the Treasured Heart, and furthermore, how did he know that we'd taken it back to Miami to be analyzed?"

Then she let out a gasp.

"There's a mole on the ship! Someone here is working with him, but whom? Who would jeopardize their career, and how in the world did they meet Caius?"

She then turned her gaze on me, and I looked right back at her.

"It's Dr. Black, isn't it? He left with you guys, but he didn't return with you. He's the one."

I let out a weary sigh as I stared at her. Dr. T was a smart woman, and I couldn't lie to her.

"It's a definite possibility. Black supposedly left due to a family emergency, but Edward and I saw him outside of Poseidon the day we dropped the brooch off. So, yes, he could be involved, but I have no idea how he would have met Marcus Caius. That remains a mystery."

"This is a freaking nightmare," she said quietly, and I could only agree with her.


	19. Chapter 19

**A/N: Sorry for the delay folks. RL gets in the way sometimes. I'm going to say from now until the end of the story that updates will be on Sunday or Monday. We've got about 6 chapters left, maybe 7. As always, thanks for reading and reviewing, and a huge thanks to my beta, Heather.**

* * *

"Here," Edward said as he came into our stateroom almost a week after we'd been back on the ship, holding a package of Oreos out for me to take. "You looked like you could use some of these."

The man knew me well. While Oreos weren't the cure for everything, they were a definite comfort food for me, and I loved that he knew me so well.

"Thanks," I told him as I took the cookies from him and opened the package, pulling out a couple.

"How are you holding up?" he asked as he sat down on the bed next to me, stealing a cookie out of my hand and popping it into his mouth.

I shrugged as I twisted the top of my Oreo off.

"Okay, I guess. I'm not as excited about my work as I was before. I don't know if it's because our goal has been achieved in finding the Treasured Heart or if it's because the Treasured Heart is gone."

Edward wrapped an arm around me, pulling me into his side, and I rested my head on his shoulder, the cookie in my hand forgotten for the moment.

"I think it's probably a bit of both. The Treasured Heart had been seen as this almost unattainable goal, and then you found it. I think the adrenaline of finding it has worn off, and now we're dealing with the aftermath. Granted, the brooch being stolen certainly doesn't help."

"Yeah, I think you're right," I said quietly. "Has Jasper heard anything from the police or the FBI?"

"Not that I know of, but he's been busy dealing with Aro as well as the French government. We can go pay him a visit in a little while if you want?"

"Yeah, let's do that, but let's eat some more cookies first."

So, the two of us sat on our bed, eating cookies and watching a movie on Edward's laptop for the next hour.

Full of cookies and more relaxed than I had been, Edward and I made our way toward Jasper's little office on the ship and knocked on the door.

"Yeah?" Jasper's voice called out, and I cracked the door open and poked my head in.

"Got a minute?"

"Of course," he said, and soon, Edward and I were seated in the chairs across from Jasper's desk.

"Have you heard anything?" I asked right away, and Jasper sat back in his chair.

"Nothing concrete yet. It looks like the video footage on the security cameras was tampered with, and Dr. Uley's keycard was stolen and used to enter the building later that night. As far as Black goes, I've let my suspicions of him be known to Agent Charlotte, who is working the case, but I don't know how they plan to pursue him."

"That's why he's got me poking around in Black's life," Rose said from the doorway, and I looked at her as she shut the door behind her and leaned against the wall.

"Have you found anything tying him to Marcus Caius?" I asked her, and she shook her head.

"Not yet, but I've found some discrepancies in his finances," she told us. "He grew up in one of the poorest towns in Oklahoma. His mother didn't have much money, and there was no money for him to go to college. After high school, he worked various fast food jobs and was struggling to survive. Then, all of a sudden, when he was twenty, eighty thousand dollars showed up in his bank account."

"Did he win the lottery?" Edward asked, and Rose shook her head no.

"The money was deposited into his account by a company for 'consulting' fees," she said with an eye roll. "The company, of course, doesn't exist, and I'm having no luck finding out anything about it."

"So, there's no ties to Caius at all?" I asked, disbelief in my voice because there just had to be a connection.

"As far as I can tell, they've never met, but I'm not giving up. I've got some friends helping me out," she told us, and I knew she was referring to her hacker friends who could probably gain access to the nuclear codes should they want to which was a slightly terrifying thought.

"Let us know what you find," Jasper told her.

"Of course."

"And don't get caught," he pleaded. "The last thing I need is a valuable member of my team going to prison."

Rose let out a snort before she assured Jasper that she wouldn't get caught.

"I've got my bases covered, Jasper. I've even got a way to get information to the FBI should I find anything concrete."

"I don't even want to know how," Edward whispered in my ear, and I agreed with him.

* * *

Edward let out a moan, and he babbled words I didn't understand as I ran my lips down his length, teasing him.

I loved reducing him to a babbling mess.

"You've got to stop, Bella," he gasped as I took him into my mouth, but I wasn't ready to stop. I wanted to push him to the edge, and I did just that.

"Stop! I want to come inside you," he said a few moments later, and I reluctantly pulled my mouth off of him.

"You're a dangerous woman," he muttered as I straddled him, a cocky grin on my face.

"Yes, I am," I agreed before I sunk down on him, and we both let out moans.

I started off riding him slow, but that didn't last long. Soon, his hands were gripping my hips tightly, and he was thrusting hard and fast, and I was loving it.

"Fuck!" he shouted, his eyes shut, and his jaw clenched. I could tell he was fighting the urge not to come, but I was on the edge as well.

"Let go," I told him as he reached his hand down and began to rub my clit.

"Bella!"

That was all it took for me to let go as well, and soon, I was slumped on top of him, and one of Edward's large hands was running up and down my back.

As we were basking in the afterglow, there was a loud noise, like an explosion, and the ship rocked violently.

"What the fuck was that?" I asked, my eyes wide as alarms began to ring across the ship, and I climbed off of him.

"Something's hit us," Edward said as he rushed to put his clothes on, and I was right behind him, frantically getting dressed and cursing when I couldn't get my bra hooked.

The moment we were dressed, we rushed out of our room and toward the wheelhouse where Edward hollered at Riley to talk to him.

"I don't know what's going on, Captain!" Riley shouted back over the loud alarms.

"Go check the engines!" Edward demanded, and Riley took off as Edward turned to the remainder of his crew who had all gathered just outside the bridge.

"Bandar, it looks like there is a small fire on the starboard side. If it's small enough, you should be able to put it out with the fire extinguisher. If not, we may have a problem."

Bandar nodded, grabbed the fire extinguisher off the wall, and made his way out of the wheelhouse.

"Omar, go get the skiffs ready. We're probably going to need them."

One by one, each man was given orders by Edward, and each rushed out to do what Edward had asked of them.

"Bella, can you make sure everyone is out of there staterooms and have them meet up here?"

I nodded my head and gave Edward a quick kiss before rushing out the door, hearing him radio Seth Clearwater.

"Guys!" I hollered as I banged on stateroom doors, bathroom doors, and poked my head into the various research rooms.

"Guys, I need you out in the hallway now! The ship was hit by something, and Edward needs us all on deck!"

It only took a few minutes before the seven members of Poseidon were in the hallway, all wearing expressions of confusion and fear.

"On deck now!"

We were climbing the stairs when another explosion rocked the ship, and we all fell sideways.

"Fuck!" I muttered as my head connected with the railing.

"You okay?" Jasper asked, and I nodded as I straightened myself up and began to climb up the stairs.

It took a few more minutes before we were all on deck, Edward waiting for us.

"I need you all to remain as calm as possible," he said, his voice firm yet soft. "The ship is on fire due, most likely, to the explosions we felt and heard earlier. I believe someone attached several charges to the bottom of the ship, but I can't be sure. We need to stay calm and get into the skiffs that are on the starboard side."

We all nodded that we heard him and began to make our way toward the boats when we heard the squawking of the radio, and then there was an enormous boom. We watched in horror as the _Icarus_ was engulfed in flames.

"Fuck!" Edward roared as we watched helplessly.

Thankfully, it looked as though Captain Clearwater had gotten everyone to the safety of the small boats and they had been lowered into the water.

"Captain, we've got to go!" Omar hollered over the noise, and Edward nodded.

"Everyone in the skiffs now!" Edward commanded, and I climbed into the first skiff, watching in terror as Edward stayed behind.

"The artifacts!" Dr. Tanner suddenly yelled and began to scramble out of the small boat.

"Leave them!" Jasper hollered at her, and she turned to stare at him in disbelief.

"I can't just leave them!"

"Yes, you can! They aren't worth your life!" I shouted at her. "You have the flash drive with all your notes on you, yes?"

She nodded.

"Then that's gonna have to do," I told her as calmly as I could, but I, too, was feeling sick at losing all the work we'd done. We'd just have to excavate this ship if it sunk.

* * *

It had taken the coast guard a little over an hour to reach us, and they had immediately gotten us on board their ship and checked us over for injuries. Thankfully, there were no injuries from our vessel, but there were a few minor injuries and one major injury that had required medical attention from the _Icarus._ Mike Newton had ignored the alarms, refusing to leave his work station, and had gotten severely burned. A member of the coast guard had taken the injured to the nearest hospital in Cape Verde.

The rest of us had stayed near the ships, watching as the coast guard put the fires out on the _Akkaris_. They had deemed the _Icarus_ a lost cause and had focused their attention on our research vessel instead. Edward was hoping that the fires hadn't caused too much damage and that we'd be able to sail her to the nearest port and then ship the artifacts home.

"Captain Cullen?"

Edward, who'd been standing next to me with his arm around my shoulders, turned around.

"Yes?"

"I'm Logan Broadchurch," the man said, sticking out a hand which Edward shook. "I'm here to give you an update on your research vessel."

We all listened as the guy explained that while most of the fires had been small, caused by a small charge, they had caused quite a bit of damage.

"Can she run?" Edward asked, and Broadchurch shook his head.

"There's too much engine damage. We're going to tow her to the closest port. I don't think I have to tell you that you're going to need a new research vessel if you want to continue working out here."

"I can't wait to call Aro and tell him about this," Jasper muttered, looking less than thrilled at the idea.

"Better you than me," Edward told him before letting out a weary sigh.


	20. Chapter 20

**A/N: Thanks so much for reading/reviewing last chapter! Warms my little heart (although, it's plenty warm here in IL. Too warm for me)! I've just started writing the second to last chapter. There will be 24 chapters to this story, so we're slowly getting there.**

 **As always, a huge thanks to my beta for unwavering patience and dealing with my dislike of commas.**

* * *

We'd spent the past three days in Praia, Cape Verde, waiting for a new research vessel. Aro had been furious that the _Akkiris_ had been severely damaged and unable to function properly. He'd spent thirty minutes, screaming at Jasper about how much this was going to cost him, and then he'd screamed about how the French government was going to be pissed. Wisely, Jasper didn't mention that the French were already upset about us not handing over the Treasured Heart and then losing it.

Aro had also demanded that we leave the site for now and return back to Miami with the artifacts and research in hand.

"Wait! He wants us to quit! But, we still have so much work to do?" Dr. T protested, and I agreed with her.

"Aro is flying in someone from the French government and is going to let them look at all the artifacts and our research. Ultimately, it will be the decision of the French on whether or not we are allowed to continue to excavate. After all, they are the ones footing the bill."

There was a flurry of protest at Jasper's words, and inside, I was fuming. It felt like Aro was blaming us for the ships catching on fire, and even though it wasn't our fault, he was still going to punish us for it.

"This is bullshit!" Emmett snarled, his hands clenched into fists. "How do we know that some other research team isn't going to come along and steal our dig site?"

"Legally, it's ours," Jasper said, trying to sound patient, but I could tell he was fighting to stay calm as he continued to answer questions that were being asked.

"Guys!" he finally yelled over all the talking. "Arguing about this isn't going to do us any good. Let's just make sure that the artifacts are packed properly and have proper documentation. We're leaving for Miami in two days."

* * *

"Jesus Christ! I never thought we'd get out of there!" Emmett grumbled once we were finally through customs. We'd spent almost two hours dealing with customs and verifying all of our paperwork for the artifacts. It had been a fucking nightmare, and dealing with that after being on a plane for what felt like years, had left all of us in a bad mood.

"No kidding," Rose muttered, and I agreed with her.

"Meeting at the office in thirty," Jasper told us, and we all groaned. No rest for the weary, I guess.

"I know that we're all exhausted, but we've got work to do. We need to get these crates back to the office and catalogue them before Aro gets even more pissed," he said.

"Can we at least get something to eat first?" Emmett asked, rubbing his stomach as it rumbled loudly.

"We'll order in once we get to the office," Jasper promised.

Jasper took possession of all the crates carrying the artifacts, and we helped him load them into the van that he'd rented.

With a wave to us from both Alice and him, he took off, and the rest of us dragged our tired selves toward the area where cabs were waiting to pick up fares.

Edward, Jessica, and I grabbed a cab and were soon on our way to the office, none of us speaking much.

Technically, Edward didn't have to go to Poseidon with us since he wasn't a member of the research team, but he'd opted to go with. He was just as invested in the _Sirène_ as the rest of us, and as far as I was concerned, he was a member of our team and just as important as the rest of us.

Due to traffic, it took us close to thirty minutes to get to our office, and we had to rush to make it to Jasper's meeting on time, and considering that none of us were in the greatest of moods, I didn't want to give him reason to yell.

"Okay, folks, we've got a long day ahead of us, so get settled in," Jasper said before informing us that the subs he had ordered would be arriving in about ten minutes or so.

"Thank God! I'm hungry enough to eat a hippogriff!" Emmett roared, and we all stared at him.

"What? I like Harry Potter."

I let out a snort. Emmett was the comic relief that we all needed, and the atmosphere in the room became much more relaxed; however, Jasper was quick to bring the room back under control from the snickers and laughter that had accompanied Emmett's comment.

"Guys, let's get serious. Aro will be arriving in about an hour, and I don't think I need to tell you that he's on the warpath. The man is pissed, and I can guarantee there's going to be lots of yelling. Don't let it get to you."

That was easier said than done. No one liked getting yelled at, especially by their boss's boss. Technically, Aro could fire all of us, but I hoped like hell that he wouldn't.

"And two representatives from the French government, along with Dr. Dubois, will be arriving tomorrow morning to look at what we've excavated so far. Bella and Bree are going to need help getting everything set out in the layout room. Make sure all the artifacts are properly labeled and have the documentation with them."

"Yeah, we'll definitely need help," I said, and Rose and Emmett volunteered, but Jasper told Rose he needed her for something else. I had a feeling that something was going to be locating Jacob Black and Marcus Caius.

After a quick lunch of sandwiches, Dr. T, Jessica, Emmett, and I made our way to the layout room where we found all of our crates and boxes of artifacts waiting for us. Edward didn't come with because he had to go fill out a ton of paperwork regarding the _Arrikas_.

The four of us were busy uncrating the artifacts, laying them out, and labeling them when we heard the sound of a screeching weasel, echoing down the hallway.

"I take it Aro is here," I commented upon hearing the man's nasally voice.

"Fabulous," Dr. Tanner muttered as Aro's voice grew closer.

"Dr. Swan, with me now!" he practically growled as he walked into the room and glared at me.

"Fan-fucking-tastic," I muttered under my breath as I followed him out of the room and into the elevator that led to the next floor where his office was located.

The atmosphere in the elevator was tense and almost stifling, and I was relieved when the door opened.

I followed Aro into his office where I found Edward sitting in a chair, looking bored, as if he didn't have a care in the world, but I knew better. The fingers on his left hand were tapping out a rhythm against his thigh, and I knew he was as nervous as I was. Although, there was nothing for us to be nervous about. We'd done nothing wrong, and I'd be damned if I'd let Aro blame the theft of the Treasured Heart on us.

"I'm sure you know why you are here," Aro said as he sat down behind his desk, and we both nodded are heads.

"Good. Tell me what happened."

So, we did. We told Aro exactly what we'd told the investigators, but damned if he didn't interrogate us for close to an hour. By the time he sat back in his chair, his hands clasped tightly together, I was so fucking done and ready to go home. I wanted to curl up in my bed with Edward and sleep for a week.

"Are you sure it was Dr. Black that you saw in the parking lot?" he asked sharply.

"Of course, I'm sure. He's hard to miss," I said, barely containing an eye roll.

The only thing he said after that was for us to get back to work, and just like that, we were dismissed.

"Well, that was weird," Edward commented as we got in the elevator.

"What was weird?"

"Didn't you notice how Aro's demeanor changed when you mentioned seeing Black and again when you confirmed that it was him we saw?"

"No, I didn't notice that at all. I was too busy being annoyed," I admitted.

"I think Aro knows something about Black that he's not telling."

"That wouldn't surprise me at all," I told him as we got off the elevator and made our way back to the layout room. "He was the one who hired Black out of the blue."

"How'd it go?" Emmett asked as we walked back into the room.

"About as well as expected," I told him.

"I take it you aren't fired?" he asked, and I shook my head before getting back to work.

By the time we had everything laid out and ready for inspection by the French, we were all exhausted and fighting to staying awake. It had been a long day, and it was closing in on eleven at night, so Jasper told us all to go home.

"I need you guys back here by eight tomorrow morning," he said, and we all gaped at him. I knew for a fact that I could easily sleep for about fourteen hours, and as it was, I'd be lucky if I got six or seven.

"Sorry, gang, but the French are coming at nine, and I need all of you here and ready for them."

We all nodded our heads in understanding before we left the building.

* * *

"I need the largest, strongest cup of coffee," I complained to poor Edward as we walked into the office building.

"I told you we could have stopped at Java Joe's on the way in, but you didn't want to," Edward replied, and I scowled at him.

"If we'd stopped, we would be late," I explained for the millionth time, and Edward just looked at me with an eyebrow raised.

"We've got plenty of time, Bella. It's not even seven-thirty yet. We could have easily stopped and gotten coffee and some crullers."

I shot him another glare, not acknowledging that he was probably right, before stepping into the elevator.

The reason I'd wanted to get to the office early was to check on the layout room and make sure that nothing was out of place. I had to admit, I was a bit paranoid about our artifacts being stolen after what happened with the Treasured Heart.

Edward followed me out of the elevator, stopping in the breakroom while I continued on. I was relieved to find that the layout room was locked. After unlocking the door, I breathed a sigh of relief that everything was where we'd left it. The last thing we needed to have happen was to lose more artifacts.

At precisely eight o'clock, I was gathered in our conference room, a large cup of coffee in my hands, with the rest of our team, including Lauren, Mike, and a handful of interns.

"Marie Martin and Pierre Bernard will be here within the hour along with Dr. Leo Dubois," Jasper said. "I don't think I need to tell you to treat them with the utmost respect. These people will determine whether or not we get to continue working on the _Sirène_."

"Bree," he said, turning to Dr. Tanner, "I'll need you and Bella with me most of the day, talking and explaining our research to our guests."

We both nodded, knowing this would happen. I tuned out the rest of what Jasper said as he assigned tasks to everyone in the room. Some of it was menial shit that needed to be done while other tasks were far more important.

At eight-fifty, after Jasper had dismissed the meeting, there was a knock on the conference room door, which was partially opened, and there stood three individuals plus Aro.

Introductions were made all around, and then I was left alone to discuss our findings with Marie Martin.

She was a severe looking woman in her sixties, I'd guess, who stood stiff as a board as she gazed at me with dark eyes that seemed like they were trying to see into my soul. I had to admit, the woman unnerved me.

"Tell me about the navire, the ship," she clarified when I shot her a puzzled look.

So, I did. I told her all about our trip to the first possible location for the _Sirène_ and how we'd been off base. I told her about the new clue that we'd gotten in the form of the letter and how we'd made our way to the coast off Cape Verde, Africa.

I spent roughly two hours, answering her questions about our expedition, before she asked to look at the artifacts.

The woman was nothing if not thorough in her questions, but she'd seemed to have relaxed a bit.

"Oh mon," she whispered after I opened the door to the layout room and let her get a look at everything we had discovered so far.

She spoke to herself in French as she wandered around the room, taking notes and occasionally asking me questions.

"And the Coeur Précieux?" she asked, and I knew she was asking about the Treasured Heart.

I grabbed the tablet that was on the table nearest to me, and after inputting the password, I brought up the pictures that we'd taken of it.

"It's beautiful," she said as her finger traced over the image on the screen. "It fits all the descriptions we'd heard about it."

"Yeah, that's why I'm positive it's the Treasured Heart," I told her. "Dr. Uley had a chance to examine it before it was stolen, and her notes are available as well as the results of the tests she ran if you'd like to see them."

"Oiu, please."

I led Mrs. Martin down the hallway toward Dr. Uley's lab where I found Dr. Tanner with Pierre Bernard and Dr. Dubois, all of whom greeted me with a smile and a handshake.

* * *

"Well?" I asked Jasper a little after four that afternoon as I was standing in his office.

"They're discussing things now with Aro," he told me, and I heaved a sigh before tossing myself into a chair across from his desk.

A moment later, a cup of tea, courtesy of Alice, was placed in front of me.

"You need to relax, Bells," Ali said, and I knew she was right. "I'm positive the French will let us continue working on the _Sirène_. I had a dream about it."

I barely refrained from rolling my eyes at her premonition.

"Let's hope so," I said quietly before she distracted me with talk of Edward.

"Where is he? He was here earlier, wasn't he?" she asked me, and I nodded my head before explaining that Edward was meeting with an old friend of his who had a research vessel that we might be able to use.

"He feels guilty, I think," I said, staring down into my cup of tea.

"Why?" Jasper asked, frowning.

"He's the captain of the ship. It's his duty to make sure the ship is in working order, and he believes he failed because small charges were attached to the ship, and he didn't notice."

"None of us noticed," Jasper said.

"I know that, and he knows that, but he still feels that he should have done more routine checks of the outside of the ship. He tries not to let it show that it bothers him, but it's eating him up inside."

"I'll talk to him," Jasper promised, and I nodded my thanks before standing up.

I was just about to walk out of Jasper's office when there was a knock on the door. Jasper stood up and quickly opened it, finding Mrs. Martin and Mr. Bernard on the other side.

Alice and I excused ourselves and left his office; however, it took everything in me not to linger in the hallway and attempt to eavesdrop on the conversation that was now going on. Instead, we made our way down the hall and stopped at Rose's office.

Her door was ajar, and I could see her typing furiously away, a scowl on her face.

"Can we come in?" I asked her, and she nodded without looking away from the monitors in front of her.

"I feel like I haven't seen you in days," I told her. "Have you been holed up in here since we got back?"

She nodded as she continued typing, her focus never wavering from what she was doing.

"Yeah, Jasper asked me to look into Caius and Black, and it's not going as well as I had hoped. I've been tracking Black's credit card transactions, and yes, I know that's not legal," she muttered as if she'd been told that before.

"Where's he at?" Ali asked.

"He rented a car in Bangor, Maine, before we were even back on the _Arrikas_ _and before you ask_ , no, he doesn't have any relatives in Maine."

"Maybe he just wanted to skive off of work and take a vacation," Ali suggested, and I stared at her.

"What?" she asked, shrugging her shoulders. "It's possible."

"Possible, but not likely," I told her. "He's up to something. He's been gone for too long for it to be just a family emergency, and he hasn't contacted Aro since he left, has he?"

Rose shook her head as she informed us that she was tracking his cell phone as well.

"Jesus! Remind me to never get on your bad side," I said, and Rose gave me a grin.

"I could hunt you to the ends of the earth," she said, and I didn't doubt it.

* * *

 **a/n: Thanks for reading! Leave a review if you'd like. I love hearing what you thought!**


	21. Chapter 21

**A/N: Howdy, folks! Hope everyone has had a good weekend! It's actually been gorgeous here for once, so I (meaning my husband) was able to somewhat tame the jungle that is my yard. Thank you all so much for reading/reviewing last chapter. I love hearing from you all.**

 **Also a huge thanks to my beta (who has been at the beach, so I'm only a tad jealous) for fixing my crappy grammatical errors.**

* * *

"I'm sorry, what?" I asked, staring at Jasper and Agent Peter Charlotte two days later as I stood in the living room of my condo.

"Marcus Caius is dead," Agent Charlotte repeated, and I just stared at him.

"But—how? Who did it?"

Agent Charlotte gestured for me to have a seat, so I sat on the sofa, clasping my hands tightly together and wishing like hell that Edward was with me. Edward's house back in Hawaii had caught on fire, and he'd flown out yesterday to go deal with the aftermath and file the insurance paperwork.

"We don't know who did it, but I can tell you with certainty that it was a professional hit. He was shot in the back of the head, execution style. He's been dead for about a week."

I waited for the feelings of relief and satisfaction to hit me, but neither one did. I didn't feel anything except a slight twinge of anger that he'd not suffered.

"Did you find anything on him about the Treasured Heart or the attack on the _Arrakis_?"

"Nothing," Agent Charlotte replied, and now I had a sinking feeling. If Caius had stolen the Treasured Heart we'd never find it. He would have taken that information to the grave.

"Where was he found?"

"In a ditch in Tarrafal, Cape Verde. It's my belief that he hadn't stepped a foot on American soil since he was first shot and rescued."

"So, he didn't directly steal the Treasured Heart, but he could have hired out help."

"It's a possibility, yes," Charlotte agreed.

"What about Jacob Black? Is he a suspect in the theft?" I asked him.

"He is a possible suspect," the agent said slowly. "We don't have a clear motive, and yes, I'm aware the Treasured Heart is worth millions, but we don't have any information linking Dr. Black with Marcus Caius. As far as we can tell, they've never met."

"Well, great," I muttered. "Do we even know where Black is? I know that he had a 'family emergency', but he's been gone for a long time."

"He's in Bangor, Maine," Jasper told me, which I technically already knew, thanks to Rose. "He's got some cousins out there, and he's helping them out after the death of their father."

"I thought his only relative was his mother who is somewhere in Arizona or New Mexico."

"I thought so as well, so I talked to Aro. He informed me about Dr. Black's cousins and told me that he'd approved Black to take two weeks off to help his relatives."

I narrowed my eyes at his words. It sounded suspicious to me that Aro would allow anyone two weeks off for a family emergency, but Aro did tend to play favorites.

"Well, thank you for letting me know about Caius," I said to Agent Charlotte, who shook my hand and told me he'd keep me informed about the investigation before taking his leave.

"I don't care what Agent Charlotte thinks, I'm positive Black is involved in this somehow," I told Jasper as soon as the door shut behind Agent Charlotte.

"I agree that the timing of his family emergency coinciding with you bringing the brooch back to the states is suspicious; however, we have nothing concrete."

"I know, I know," I snarled as my fists clenched. I just knew, deep in my gut, Black was involved.

"Are you going to be okay?" Jasper asked after a few minutes, and I shrugged before telling him that I'd see him in the morning.

We were going to be packing up the artifacts so that Mrs. Martin, Mr. Bernard, and Dr. Dubois could take them back to France.

As soon as Jasper left, I picked up my phone and called Edward.

"Hey, sweetheart," he answered, his voice sounding tired.

"Hey, babe. How are you?"

"Exhausted. I've lost …," his voice trailed off, and it sounded like he was fighting back tears. "I've lost everything. All my books, my baseball card collection that my dad helped me start when I was seven, my clothes. Just everything. Gone. It's all gone, Bella."

"It's so stupid," he continued before I could speak. "They're just materialistic things which I can replace."

"I imagine I'd feel the same way if I lost my things in a fire," I told him. "I don't think there's anything stupid about what you're feeling."

As we talked, Edward told me that the fire marshal was certain that the fire was an act of arson, and he'd asked Edward if he had any enemies.

"I mentioned Marcus Caius to him—"

"He's dead," I interrupted.

"What?"

"Caius is dead. Jasper and Agent Charlotte came to visit me a little while ago, and they told me that Caius was found dead in Cape Verde. He's been dead for about a week they think."

There was stunned silence on the other end of the phone, and I knew Edward needed to time to process what I'd said. Hell, I hadn't even processed it yet.

"Who killed him?" he asked me a few minutes later.

"They don't know. Maybe whomever originally shot him decided to finish the job. I can't exactly find it in myself to be too upset that he's dead, but I am angry because we don't know any more about who stole the Treasured Heart."

"Well, I'm positive it was Black," Edward said, and I agreed with him.

We talked for over two hours until he was yawning so much that he could barely complete sentences.

"Edward, go get some sleep."

"I'll do my best," he said, a yawn interrupting him. "I'll be back in a couple of days."

"I can't wait. I'll talk to you soon," I said.

"Love you," he said right before he hung up the phone, and I sat there, stunned.

"Did he?" I asked myself before pulling up Rose's number and calling her right away.

"Edwardsaidhelovedme," I blurted out the second she picked up, and she let out an Alice-like squeal that had my ear hurting.

"I'll be over with Ali in less than twenty minutes," she said, hanging up before I could protest.

I let out an exasperated sigh as I tossed my phone onto the coffee table. I knew that they would want to celebrate and gossip, but I also knew that I needed to tell them about Caius. Chances were good, though, Ali already knew thanks to Jasper.

* * *

"Tell me everything!" Ali demanded the second she and Rose walked through the door, bags of Cuban food and wine in their hands.

"I will, but there's a more serious matter we need to talk about first," I said, and Ali nodded, her look subdued.

Rose looked between the two of us before asking what it was.

"Marcus Caius was found dead in Cape Verde," Ali told her, and Rose's jaw dropped.

"What?! How did I not know about this? I've got all kinds of alerts set up on my computer that are supposed to let me know the second Caius' name pops up or if Black uses his credit or debit card."

She whipped her phone out and began typing away furiously while Ali and I exchanged confused looks.

"Dammit!" she muttered to herself as she continued typing away.

"Rose?" I asked, and she shushed me, which had my eyebrows raising.

"Fuck!" Rose exclaimed moments later. "My algorithm was broken. Lord knows how many other alerts I've missed. I'll have to make sure my algorithm for Black is still working."

"You can check on it later," Ali said in a firm voice. "While Caius' death is important, I don't think it's nearly as important as Edward telling Bella he loved her."

Immediately, Rose set her phone down and went into the kitchen before coming back with three glasses of wine.

"You're right, Ali. Caius is dead and not going anywhere; however, it appears Bella's love life is going somewhere."

Both women turned to look at me, and I took a large sip of wine before I began to speak.

"There's really not much to tell," I began, and both of them just looked at me. "Well, there isn't. I called him to see how he was doing—he's exhausted by the way—and they believe it's arson. Then, I told him about Caius, and we talked for about two hours. Right before he hung up, he said love you, Bella."

They stared at me for a moment before letting out squeals of delight, and I groaned. They were going to blow this way out of proportion, I was sure of it.

"I don't think he even knows he said it," I told them. "He was so tired and stressed. I think it just slipped out."

"Doesn't matter," Rose said. "The fact of the matter is that he said it."

"Plus, he wouldn't have said it if he wasn't thinking it," Alice jumped in. "You don't tell someone you love them if you haven't been thinking about it. How many times have you almost said it?"

"A few," I admitted, "but what if he wasn't ready to say it, and he only said it because he's tired. What if he's not ready to actually say it? What if he doesn't even realize he said it?"

"Stop, Bella! You're going to freak yourself out," Ali said, placing a calming hand on my arm.

"Ali's right. Drink your wine, eat some food, and enjoy the fact that an intelligent, gorgeous man is in love with you."

So, I did. Well, I did my best to focus on that, but later in the night while trying to sleep, my brain couldn't help but wonder if Edward had realized that he'd said those three words. Then, I wondered whether or not to bring it up, but, in the end, I decided that I would.

* * *

Two days later, I was swearing as I was stuck in traffic on my way to pick Edward up at the airport. He'd called me yesterday afternoon to ask if he could ship some of his belongings to my address, and of course, I'd told him yes.

"Drive, you asshole!" I shouted at the car in front of me as it drove ten miles under the speed limit, severely testing my patience.

Finally, I managed to get to the airport and pulled into the arrival pickup area, frantically scanning the area for Edward. Thanks to traffic, I was close to fifteen minutes late, and I hoped that Edward hadn't decided to catch a cab.

Then, I spotted him. He had dark circles under his eyes, and he looked like he had the weight of the world on his shoulders.

I climbed out of my truck and rushed toward him, and a beautiful smile came over his face.

"Bella!" he said, wrapping me up in a hug, lifting me up of the ground, and holding me tightly before finally setting me back down.

He planted a long kiss on my lips, and I held onto him before we broke apart.

"I missed you," I told him, staring into his green eyes.

"I missed you, too," he said, resting his forehead against mine. "I'm ready to go home."

Home. He considered my place his home, and that warmed me to my core.

"Yeah, let's go home," I agreed, and thirty-some minutes later, we were pulling into my parking lot.

* * *

Once inside, Edward carried his bags into my bedroom before flopping down on my bed on his back, and I climbed up and curled into his side.

His arm came around my back as he pulled me closer before dropping a kiss to my head.

"I'm so glad to be home," he said quietly.

"I'm so glad you consider this your home, too," I told him, leaning up on an elbow so that I could give him a kiss on the lips.

The kiss soon escalated into so much more, and I soon found myself naked underneath Edward as he kissed his way down my body.

It was almost embarrassing how quickly I came.

With a gentle kiss to my clit, he climbed up my body, placing kisses as he went before sliding into me. We both moaned as he slid in, and our lovemaking was sweet and gentle. It seemed that we'd both needed it because after we came, we lay there, cuddling and enjoying the aftermath of it all.

Our bliss was short-lived, though, as my phone rang, and I scowled as I looked at it.

"It's Jasper," I said before answering.

"Hey, is Edward back?" he asked after I said hello.

"Yep."

"Good. Meeting at five at the Salty Pirate," he said before hanging up, and I let out a groan.

Edward, having overheard Jasper, asked what the Salty Pirate was.

"It's this ridiculous pirate-themed restaurant in North Beach. All the wait staff dress up as pirates and talk in pirate accents. I hate the place, but Jasper just loves it."

"Suppose we should get ready soon," he commented, but I wasn't ready to get up just yet.

After another round of sex, we showered and got dressed so that we could make our way to North Beach.

Forty minutes later, Edward and I were getting out of my truck and entering the tacky looking restaurant.

"We're meeting a group here," I told the hostess who led us out to the patio where Jasper was sitting with Alice, Rose, Emmett, Dr. Tanner, and Jessica.

The waitress took our drink order, and then I turned to look at Jasper.

"So, why are we here?" I asked as I grabbed a hushpuppy from the basket that was in the center of the table and took a bite.

"As you know, we've been given permission by the French to finish excavating the _Sirène_ ," he said, and we all nodded. "We leave on Monday where another research vessel, procured by Edward, will be waiting for us in Casablanca. We will excavate what's left, catalogue it, and store it properly, but we won't be doing any in-depth research on what we find. The French will do that. As soon as we've gathered everything, it will be shipped directly to the French."

I frowned at his words. Part of being a maritime archeologist was researching what you'd found, and now that opportunity was being taken away from us.

"We will also have two armed guards on the vessel with us," he told us.

"But Caius is dead," Jessica said. "Isn't he the one who tried to blow up the _Arrakis_? Aren't we're safe now?"

"It wasn't Caius. He was dead when the charges were attached to our ship. Not to mention, we have no idea who killed him," I explained. "It could be that whomever killed him was after the _Treasured Heart_ as well."

"At this point, we just don't know enough," Jasper told Jess. "I'd rather we be safe than sorry."

"True that," Em said before taking a sip of his beer. "Is Black going to be on the ship with us?"

Jasper shook his head before he informed us that Aro had told him Black would be staying on land and working on some secret project.

I let out a snort at his words.

"Favoritism at its finest," I said. "I think Aro knows more about Black than he lets on."

"I have no doubt about that," Jasper agreed.

* * *

 **a/n: Alrighty, let me know what you thought, and I'll see you next week.**


	22. Chapter 22

**A/N: Hope you all had a good weekend! There's a lot going on this chapter, so I'm gonna let you get right to it.**

 **Thanks for reading/reviewing, and thanks to my beta for her awesome beta skills.**

* * *

It had been an incredibly busy week now that we were back on site. The new research vessel Edward had procured was much larger than _The Akkaris_ had been, and, somehow, Jasper had convinced Aro that we needed more people to help excavate the rest of _The Sirène._ So now, we had fifteen people working on this project, so it was making the excavation go by much quicker. Chances were good, we'd be done within a month, if not sooner, since we weren't allowed to research the artifacts.

It pained me to bring items up from the ocean floor, only to give them a quick cleaning and cursory look before sticking them in a box labeled with a generic title.

"I never thought I'd say this, but I'm so ready for this project to be done," I told Dr. T. as we finished cataloging some pieces of jewelry. "There's just been so much drama—"

"And blood," Dr. T broke in, and I nodded my head. "I understand, Bella. I'm ready to go home and take a break."

We were both rather quiet for a while after that until it was time for dinner.

We parted ways in the hallway, and I made my way to the wheelhouse to see if Edward had time for a break.

"Hey," he said, looking up from the many instruments that were in front of him.

"Hey, you hungry?" I asked after giving him a kiss.

"Yeah, but I can't leave just yet. I've got Omar checking the engine rooms and I'm waiting on his report," he told me, and I knew he was paranoid about another mishap happening on his watch.

"Why don't I grab some dinner for us, and we can just eat up here?"

"That would be great. Thanks, Bella," he said, planting another kiss on my lips, and then I left and made my way to the mess hall.

I was halfway there when Rose came rushing out of her room, tablet in hand, and grabbed my arm, dragging me toward Jasper's office. I called out for Edward, who rushed out and I motioned to Rose, and he followed us down the hall.

Rose banged on Jasper's door until he opened it, and I bit back a smirk as I took in both Jasper and Alice's disheveled appearance. Obviously, we had interrupted something.

"I've got something," Rose said as she pushed her way inside, and I mouthed an apology to them as I followed Rose in.

She sat down at Jasper's desk, hooking up her tablet to his computer before turning the monitor toward us.

"I found the connection between Black and Caius," she told us, and immediately, we all sat down to pay attention to what she had to say.

"Remember how I told you that Black had something like eighty grand deposited into his account for 'consulting fees'?"

We nodded our heads.

"It took a lot of work, and I called in a lot of favors, but I found out where the money came from. It came from a man named Felix Voltaire."

I knew I'd heard that name before, and I searched my memory for the answer until it came to me.

"Dad knew him! I don't know how, but I swear he'd mentioned that name once or twice."

I turned to Edward and asked him to call his dad and see if he knew who Felix was.

Immediately, Edward was on the sat phone, calling his dad.

"Hey, Dad. No, we're okay. I promise. Listen, have you heard of a guy named Felix Voltaire?"

His dad must have answered yes because Edward put the phone on speaker, and we listened as Carlisle began to talk.

"Felix was a friend of Marcus' that Charlie and I met a few years after we'd graduated college. The guy was an antiquities dealer who was interested in the treasuring hunting business. Well, I should say that he was interested in selling the treasures that were being found. He came across as sleazy. Why do you ask?"

"We think a member of our team was working with Caius, but we couldn't find a connection between this guy and Caius until now. It seems that the guy on our team knows Felix," Jasper said.

"What's this guy's name?" Carlisle asked, and I realized that we'd never actually mentioned Jacob's name to him.

"Jacob Black. Ring any bells?" I asked.

"Sorry, kiddo, it doesn't. I do know that Felix has an illegitimate son, though. Maybe this Black guy is Felix's kid?"

As soon as Carlisle brought up that possibility, Rose went to town on her tablet and Jasper's computer, muttering quietly to herself at the same time.

"Thanks, Dad," Edward said before promising his dad he'd call him as soon as we knew anything.

"Is it possible?" Edward asked after hanging up. "Could Black really be this Felix guy's kid?"

"Yes," Rose said as she looked up from what she was doing. "It is a definite possibility."

There was a look of satisfaction on her face as she came around from behind the desk, having unplugged her tablet and handed it to Jasper.

"This is Jacob's mother in 1982, pregnant with Jacob. The man beside her is Felix Voltaire. You can tell how thrilled he seems to be having his picture taken."

"And there's a definite connection between Felix and Caius?" Jasper asked. "I know Mr. Cullen said they were friends, but do we have any evidence at all that Caius and this Felix guy were working together to get the Treasured Heart?"

"Not yet, but it's the best lead we've had, so I sent an anonymous tip to the FBI."

* * *

"Bella?"

I looked over at Jasper as I pulled off my wetsuit after my last dive down.

"Yeah?"

"I need a word. Can you grab Dr. T? I'll get the others. Meet me in my office in five."

He'd obviously heard something about Black or the Treasured Heart, so I quickly stripped my wetsuit the rest of the way off, hung it on a hook, and put on a pair of shorts that I'd left behind on the deck.

Moving quickly, I made my way to the research room where Dr .T was and told her Jasper wanted to see us.

Soon, we were all gathered in Jasper's small office, and I waited impatiently for him to speak.

"I got a call from Agent Charlotte twenty minutes ago," he began. "Jacob was arrested on-site at Poseidon as a person of interest in the theft of the Treasured Heart early this morning. I will be holding a meeting with the rest of the crew after we're done here, but I wanted you all to be the first to know."

"So, what happens now?" Emmett asked.

"Agent Charlotte promised to keep me informed, and he'll let me know what he's learned after he's finished interrogating Black. As soon as I know anything else, I'll let you know," he told us, and we thanked him before leaving his office.

"Do you think Black will talk?" Edward asked me as I walked with him back to the wheelhouse.

"For his sake and ours, I hope so. We need to know where the Treasured Heart is, and we need answers about, well, everything."

"I know, and I hope like hell Black realizes just how much trouble he's in and that he coughs up everything he knows."

* * *

"Can't sleep?" Edward asked me a few nights later as we were curled up in bed.

"No," I told him as I snuggled closer to him. "Why haven't we heard back from Agent Charlotte?"

"I don't know, Bella," he said softly as he placed a kiss on my shoulder. "We'll know when Jasper does."

"Well, I hope it's soon. It's driving me crazy waiting."

"Well, since you aren't sleeping, why don't I distract you?" he suggested with a wicked grin, and I eagerly agreed.

He'd just slid into me when there was a pounding on our door, scaring the shit out of both of us, and I let out a groan of disappointment as Edward pulled out of me.

"Guys! I need to see you now!" Jasper's voice shouted through the door, and with those words, Edward and I climbed out of bed and got dressed as quickly as possible.

We rushed out the door and were met with a snicker from Alice, and I shot her glare. I knew we looked like we'd just been fucking because we had been.

"I just heard from Agent Charlotte," Jasper said once we'd entered his office, me sitting on Edward's lap while Rose sat in another chair with Emmett behind her. Dr. Tanner and Jess were standing near the door with their arms crossed, waiting to hear what else Jasper had to say.

"Jacob Black has confessed to stealing the Treasured Heart for his father, Felix Voltaire."

"I knew it!" Rose seethed. "I knew that bastard was a fucking thief!"

"What else did he say?" I asked. "Did he mention anything about Caius?"

Jasper nodded as he told us that Marcus Caius had been in debt to Voltaire for a hefty sum of money, and Voltaire had told Caius that if he could get his hands on the Treasured Heart, then part of his debt would be paid.

"So Caius was working for Voltaire the whole time?" Em asked, and Jasper nodded his head again.

"I think so. Apparently, Black doesn't know all the details, but Voltaire was behind Caius being shot both times."

"And the attempt to blow up the ship?" Edward asked.

"All Voltaire. From what Black knows, Voltaire hired someone to destroy the ship and all the artifacts onboard."

"So now what happens?" I asked.

Jasper explained that Agent Charlotte had offered Black a deal if he agreed to work for them.

"Work with them how? Like go undercover? Wear a wire?" I asked, and Jasper nodded his head.

"Yeah, they want to nail Voltaire, and the only way they can do that is if they have proof of his crimes. From what I understand, Black has agreed to wear a wire."

"And the Treasured Heart?" Edward asked.

Jasper pinched the bridge of his nose before explaining that Black had given the brooch to Voltaire in return for settling his debt. Voltaire was going to sell it to the highest bidder, but so far, or as far as Black knew, the brooch hadn't been sold yet.

"How long is he going to get?" Emmett asked out of curiosity, and I was curious as well.

"Black's being charged with breaking and entering, first degree grand theft, which holds a prison sentence of a maximum of 30 years, as well as aiding and abetting a known criminal. He's going away for a long time."

For that, I was grateful, and I hoped like hell that Black held up his end of the bargain and was able to get some incriminating evidence against Felix Voltaire.

"Hopefully, this will all be resolved soon, and we can put this mess behind us," Edward said quietly in my ear, his arm around my waist, and I nodded my head.

"God, I hope so. I've never wanted to be done with a project as much as I have this one," I told him as we all began to make our way out of Jasper's office and back to our room.

We probably still had another week or two left in our excavation, and I would love if we were able to go home to a drama-free environment.

* * *

 **a/n: Things are slowly winding down. We've got one regular chapter left and then the epilogue. See you next week.**


	23. Chapter 23

**A/N: And here it is. The last regular chapter of this little story. Next week is the epilogue, and then I'll be taking a break from writing for a bit.**

 **As always, thank you so much for reading/reviewing. Huge thanks to my beta as well!**

* * *

A little over a week later, we had finished our excavation of the _Sirène_ , the artifacts had been handed over to the French representatives, and we were getting ready to catch our flight back home.

There had been no word from Agent Charlotte since last week, but we were hoping he'd have news for us once we were back in the states. As a matter of fact, Jasper was planning on heading to the FBI Headquarters in Miami as soon as we landed in order to find out what was going on.

"Ready?" Edward asked, and I nodded my head. God was I ever. If I never heard a word about the _Sirène_ again, I'd be happy. Never had an excavation left me so emotionally drained.

"I can't wait to get home. I think I could sleep for a week," I told him as I followed him down the gangplank toward the vehicle that was waiting to take some of us to the airport. A few members of the crew had flown out earlier while others were catching later flights.

The flight seemed longer than had it previously, and that was probably because we were tired and the flight had more turbulence than I would have preferred.

Eventually, we landed, and once we were through customs, Edward hailed us a cab to take us home, Jasper, having told us to go home and get some rest, said he'd see everyone tomorrow afternoon at two for our post-excavation meeting.

Once we were home, we took turns in the bathroom before collapsing in the bed and sleeping for close to twelve hours.

* * *

"Are you coming with?" I asked Edward a little before one the following day, not sure if he was really needed. We didn't usually have the captains of the ships involved in these meetings.

"Yeah, I want to know if Jasper's heard anything about Black," he told me before letting out a big yawn. Even after twelve hours of sleep, we were both still exhausted.

A little less than forty-five minutes later, we were pulling into the Poseidon parking lot and making our way into the building.

We ran into Jessica on our way to the elevators, and she looked just as tired as we did.

"I hope to God we get at least a week off before our next project," she said as we stepped into the elevator.

"Fuck that! I want a month off," I replied, and I wasn't kidding. If anything, our team deserved a nice, long vacation after everything we'd been through. Although, knowing Aro, we would be lucky to get that week Jess wanted.

The three of us ran into Jasper as soon as we stepped off the elevator, and he told us that he'd like to speak with us after our meeting was over.

"You have news?" Edward asked.

"I do, and there's a lot, so it will have to wait until after the meeting," he told us, and I scowled at him. I didn't want to fucking wait. I wanted to know what the hell was going on, and I wanted to know now.

"I will tell you this. The Treasured Heart has been recovered."

"What?!" we all exclaimed, but Jasper shook his head and walked down the hall toward the conference room, leaving us all staring after him.

We made our way into the conference room that was slowly filling up, and found some seats at the large table.

Soon, everyone who had worked on the excavation was crowded into the room, and Jasper called for our attention.

"First, I'd like to thank you all for your hard work during this excavation. It has certainly been a trying time, and I appreciate all the work each one of you have done. I'd also like to let you know that the Treasured Heart has been recovered and the thief has been apprehended," he began, and furious whispering and muttering erupted.

"Quiet, please!" Jasper shouted, and the room immediately quieted down.

Once he was able to speak again, Jasper moved on from the news about the Treasured Heart and did his best to get the room to focus on the findings report Dr. T had put together. He reviewed the artifacts of value we had discovered as well as relaying what information he'd gotten from the French archeologist who had looked over the artifacts.

The meeting lasted close to two hours before Jasper called an end to it, asking a few of us to stay behind.

"I know you've got questions, but first let me tell you what I know," he said as Jess, Dr. T, Rose, Emmett, Edward, and I took our seats once more.

Jasper proceeded to tell us how Black had agreed to wear a wire when he met up with his father and how the conversation had led the FBI to the location of Felix Voltaire. Agent Charlotte and his team had then tapped the place that Voltaire was staying and had found out when he was going to be making a deal for the Treasured Heart.

"So, Agent Charlotte and his team arrested Voltaire as well as Black. The Treasured Heart is currently being held in FBI evidence, but once they are done with it, it will be handed over to Dr. Dubois."

"Did they find out who killed Caius?" I asked, and Jasper shook his head.

"The FBI believes that Voltaire was behind it, but he's lawyered up and hasn't said anything other than to threaten Black."

Emmett let out a snort before saying that he didn't think Black would survive prison.

"He'll either become someone's bitch, piss off the wrong guy, or Voltaire will have him killed. Trust me, Black won't carry out his whole sentence."

I had a feeling that Emmett was right. From what little bit I knew of Voltaire, he didn't seem like the kind of man that you would double cross. I wasn't sure what had possessed Jacob to turn on him because he had to know his life was now in danger.

"It wouldn't surprise me if Black ended up in witness protection," Edward said. "He's the star witness, so to speak, and they'll want him around."

Edward had a point. As much as I hated Jacob Black, I didn't wanted him killed, but I also wanted him to pay for his crimes.

"What about Heidi Caius?" I asked Jasper, having just thought about the young woman. "How did she play into all of this?"

"I don't know," Jasper told me. "Agent Charlotte just gave me the basics."

We spoke for a few more minutes before the meeting broke up, and I decided that I wanted more answers from Agent Charlotte, so I gave him a call before Edward and I left the building.

He told me to stop by the Miami FBI Headquarters and he'd answer what he could. I realized he probably couldn't tell me everything, but I definitely felt like I deserved some answers.

Twenty minutes later, Edward and I were walking into the FBI building, and I suddenly felt incredibly nervous. I think it was because there were feds everywhere, and even though I'd done nothing wrong, I felt guilty as fuck.

"I feel like a criminal being here," I muttered quietly to Edward who let out a small snicker.

"Relax," he told me, giving my hand a squeeze before we walked through security and made our way to the receptionist.

We were given visitor badges and led to the floor where Agent Charlotte worked.

"Ms. Swan, Mr. Cullen," he said as he stood up from his desk.

After shaking our hands, he grabbed some files off his desk and told us to follow him into a small conference room.

Once inside, he shut the door and told us to take a seat.

"So, you're here because you have questions," he said, and I nodded my head.

"I realize you probably can't tell us everything that's going on, but I was hoping you could answer a few questions."

"Go ahead, and ask them, and I'll answer what I can."

So, I began with asking him how Heidi Caius fit into of all of this, and he told me that she and Jacob Black had been seeing each other for a few months. Apparently, Felix Voltaire had found out about them and had instructed Jacob to get closer to her to find out what she knew about her father.

"God, he's a scumbag," I said, and Agent Charlotte let out a snort of agreement.

"So, she wasn't involved in her father's murder or Black's plans to steal the Treasured Heart?"

"She was devastated at the news of her father's death, so we don't believe that she was involved in Caius' murder; however, she did have a hand in trying to steal the Treasured Heart. She was garnering what information she could from her father passing on to Black because he had promised her a lot of money in return."

"Of course, he did," I muttered.

"And what about Black? What's going to happen to him?" Edward asked.

"He's our star witness," Agent Charlotte began, and I knew then that Edward's suggestion earlier about Black being put in Witness Protection was most likely true.

"So, he's not going to see the inside of a jail cell, is he?" I asked before the agent could say anymore. "You need to keep him alive so he can testify against his father."

Charlotte nodded his head at my words.

"I'm sorry," he told me. "He will be punished for his crimes, but it might have to wait a bit. I can't tell you anymore than that."

I'd figured as much.

"What about the fire at Edward's house? Did Voltaire have something to do with that?"

Agent Charlotte shook his head as he explained that they found nothing tying the fire back to Voltaire or his men.

"As far as the local fire investigator can tell, the fire was one of several set by an arsonist that was in the area. Any other questions?"

God, I had so many, but I wasn't even sure what to ask at this point.

"I'm just trying to piece this all together," I admitted. "So, my dad and Carlisle, Edward's dad, met Caius in college. Then, Caius joins the two of them on our first trip to find the _Sirène_ , plants some false coins to throw my dad and Carlisle off the trail of finding the actual location of the _Sirène_ , kills my dad, and shoots Edward. Fast forward fifteen years and my boss is invited in by the French government to look for that same wreck."

Agent Charlotte nodded his head.

"Seems strange, doesn't it? Why the sudden interest by the French after all this time, and what were the chances that the excavation team looking for it would have Bella as one of the maritime archeologists?" Edward said quietly.

"We think that Caius was behind that. From what we've gathered, he never gave up looking for it but wasn't making any headway on his own," Charlotte replied.

"Okay, so we go and look for the wreck and have no luck the first time around. Then, a letter appears basically saying we've been looking in the wrong place."

"A letter that was forged by one of Voltaire's contacts," Agent Charlotte broke in, and I frowned at his words.

"But why? That makes no sense."

"Sure, it does," Edward said. "Caius must have found the real location of the _Sirène_ and told Voltaire about it, and for some reason or another, Voltaire agreed to help him out."

"That's exactly what we think. From what Black has told us, Caius owed Voltaire a ton of money, and he was going to give him the Treasured Heart in order to settle his debt."

That did make some sense when it was put that way.

"Okay, so we find the wreck and the Treasured Heart. Then the Treasured Heart gets stolen, and we almost get blown up. I'm assuming that was also Voltaire's work?" I asked.

"Yes, although we're not sure why. We're hoping he'll break down and talk soon, but I'm not holding my breath."

"What about Jasper's boss Aro? Does he have a connection in all of this?" I asked, because it seemed he must have.

"We're looking into him, and it does appear he has a connection to Felix Voltaire. We just aren't sure what it is yet."

We talked for a few more minutes, until I felt we'd learned all we were going to.

"You all may be called to testify," Agent Charlotte said as we stood up to leave. "I'll keep you updated and let you know if you are needed at the trials."

We thanked him and left the building, making our way toward my truck.

"Wow, I'm just—" I trailed off, not sure how to convey how I was feeling.

"I know," Edward said, wrapping an arm around my shoulders and giving me a squeeze. "Why don't we go get some ice cream and sit on the beach?"

That sounded like a great idea, so we did just that and spent the rest of the day at the beach.

Later that night, after eating a wonderful dinner of crab cakes, hush puppies, and shrimp, we were curled up in my bed, watching a movie on the small TV on my dresser.

Edward let out a huge yawn as I snuggled in closer, my head resting on his chest as his hand ran up and down my back.

"Want me to turn this off?" I asked him as another yawn overtook him.

"I'm okay. You can keep watching if you want," he said, but I was tired as well, so I turned off the TV and got up to complete my bedtime ritual.

I came back a few minutes later to find Edward asleep on his side of the bed.

I turned off the lights and climbed into bed, only to be wrapped up in Edward's arms.

"Love you," he mumbled, and my heart raced at his words. I'd never gotten around to asking him about the last time he'd said it, but I couldn't keep my words to myself anymore.

"I love you, too," I told him, and I felt his arms tighten around me before he moved.

"You mean that?" he asked, and I rolled over to look at his face in the moonlight.

"Of course I do. I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it.

"I love you so much," he told me, and I couldn't keep the smile off my face at hearing him finally say it to my face.

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 **a/n: See you all next week!**


	24. Chapter 24

**A/N: And here we are. The last chapter! Thank you all so much for coming along on this adventure with me. I've loved hearing all your thoughts. I'm not sure when I'll be posting another story. I've got a few stories started, and I'm writing a bit for Camp Nanowrimo, but I promise, there will be another story.**

 **Also, a huge thanks to my beta, Heather, for being so awesome and fixing my mistakes.**

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 **Epilogue: Seven Years Later - EPOV**

"Logan Emmett Cullen!" Bella screeched, and I looked out the picture window that faced the backyard.

My four-year-old son was covered in mud, and I mean covered in mud. There was mud in his hair and on his face, and his clothes were saturated in it.

"It's just mud, Mama," he said with an exasperated sigh as if she should know this.

"I know it's mud, Logan. Why are you covered in it?"

"Hannah and I were hunting frogs," he said, and I looked around the backyard for my three-year-old daughter, spotting her hiding in some bushes near the swing set. She was just as mud-covered as her brother.

Holding back a laugh, I opened the sliding glass door and went outside just as Bella was asking Logan where his sister was.

"I've got her," I told Bella as I made my way toward Hannah.

"No, Daddy!" she shouted between giggles, holding out her hands to stop me as I went to scoop her up.

"You need a bath."

"No bath!" she squealed as she tried to run from me, and I grinned as I easily caught the giggling little girl who was the spitting image of her mom.

"You too, Logan," I said. "Let's go."

Logan stomped his little foot as he shook his head.

"I wanna find some more frogs!" he cried. "I don't wanna get clean!"

"Well, that's too bad, young man," Bella said sternly. "You can't go over to Uncle Emmett and Aunt Rose's looking like that. You want to play with Bentley, don't you?"

Immediately, Logan stopped his protest. He loved going to Emmett and Rose's and playing with their son who was his best friend.

An hour later, we had two clean kids and were on our way to The McCarty house where they were having a huge backyard barbeque.

The yard was filled with friends, both old and new, and I grimaced as Alice and Jasper's daughter, Mia, let out a high-pitched squeal when she saw Hannah. Seconds later, the two little girls were babbling away in their own language, and a beer was shoved into my hand.

"You look like you could use it," Jasper said with a grin, and I thanked him.

We stood around talking with Emmett and a few guys from my boat charter business. A year after we'd found the Treasured Heart, I'd sat down with Bella and told her I wanted to start my own charter business in Miami. There was plenty of demand for it, I was experienced, and I didn't want to be gone for months at a time anymore. Bella had been behind me one hundred percent, and I'd recruited several guys I'd worked with over the years. My company, Twilight Charters, was one of the best charter companies in the Miami area. We were very much in demand, and I loved it.

We had just celebrated our first wedding anniversary when Bella discovered she was pregnant with Logan, That proved to be a busy time as we'd also been called to testify in Jacob Black's trial. Felix Voltaire, who'd been sentenced to life in prison, had been murdered, so the FBI brought Black out of hiding and prosecuted him. He'd received a lenient sentence because of his testimony against his father, but he was still doing fifteen years before being eligible for parole.

The trial had been incredibly stressful on all of us, but especially on Bella, and that was when she'd decided to take a leave of absence from Poseidon. Jasper supported her decision and had told her that her job would be waiting for her when she wanted it back, and the new owner of Poseidon had agreed. Aro had been arrested and charged with aiding and abetting a criminal, although he'd claimed he'd had no knowledge of Black's criminal activities. In the end, he'd been found innocent, but his reputation had been destroyed. He'd left the country not long after that.

In the end, Bella quit Poseidon, not wanting to be gone from Logan for long periods of time. She'd applied for several teaching positions and had accepted a job teaching maritime archeology at Miami College. She loved it, and it allowed her plenty of time off in the summer.

Jasper, Alice, and Rose were still at Poseidon, but Emmett had quit to start up his own business as well. He created and sold underwater drones and was one of the best in the business. His drones were sold all over the world, including to various government agencies.

Dr. Tanner had retired last year and moved to Spain, but she kept in touch regularly with Bella.

"Uncle Em! Guess what?" Logan hollered as he barreled his away across the yard to where Emmett was standing, talking to Bella.

"What's up, little dude?"

"I found a frog this morning! He was this big!" Logan exclaimed, holding his hands out really wide.

"No way! Did you keep him?"

Logan shook his head as he told his uncle that the frog had gotten away, but that he wasn't worried. He'd try again tomorrow.

Bella shot me a look, and I let out a small laugh. There was no doubt in my mind that Logan would find his way back to that small, muddy hole in our yard.

* * *

"Maybe we should think about getting the kids a pet," I suggested later that night when were in bed.

"Do you not remember the goldfish incident?" Bella asked as she straddled my hips and began pulling her t-shirt over her head.

I grimaced at the memory. I'd forgotten about it to be honest. We'd gotten a goldfish last year, and Logan had been ecstatic. That is, until we woke up one morning to screaming and crying. We'd rushed into his bedroom and found him sobbing hysterically, the goldfish dead on his pillow.

Apparently, Logan had decided that he wanted to snuggle with his new pet and had removed the fish from the tank and taken it to his room.

When Bella had asked him what had happened, he'd explained through sniffles that he'd read Goldie a bedtime story and tucked him in.

We had to sit down and explain to our little guy that goldfish were meant to stay in the tank and didn't sleep in little boys' beds.

"Good point," I said before we got lost in our love making.

* * *

"It's my birthday! It's my birthday!" I heard Logan singing to himself as he finished up using the bathroom, and I grinned at his enthusiasm. He was beyond thrilled that he was having a superhero themed birthday party and everyone was coming.

"Is he still in there?" Bella asked me as she walked by, and I nodded my head.

"Everything okay, Logan?" Bella asked through the door, and the little voice on the other side said he was fine.

"He's been in there for twenty minutes," she said, and I groaned at the thought of what could be waiting behind the door.

Logan was a good kid, but he had a mischievous streak a mile wide.

"Hey, buddy, can I come in?" I asked a minute later, and I heard a little sigh before he said yes.

I opened the bathroom door and found Logan in his Spiderman costume, drawing on his face with what looked like Bella's eyeliner.

"I can't get the webs right," he muttered, and I held back a laugh.

"Why not wear the mask?" I asked him, and he let out a huff as he told me it made him too sweaty, so he was just going to draw webs on his face.

Ten minutes later, I'd drawn a few spider webs on his face, and off we went, down the stairs and into the kitchen where Bella and Hannah were waiting with the chocolate chip pancakes that were a birthday tradition in our house.

After breakfast, we let Logan open up a couple of presents we'd bought him, and he'd get the rest of his presents when his party began at noon.

Needless to say, our little boy was bouncing off the walls and couldn't wait for his party to begin.

By twelve-thirty, all of our friends and their kids had arrived as well as my parents. They had moved to Naples, Florida, a few years ago to be closer to their grandkids. Bella's mother had never seen our kids, and despite attempting to reconcile, her mother had never responded. I personally felt it was best that Renee not be a part of our lives because I highly doubted that she had changed.

"Is it cake time yet?" Logan asked, running over to me about an hour into his party. I glanced over at Bella who gave me a nod, and I told him to go sit down at the picnic table.

Moments later, Bella came out with a Spiderman cake, and the delight on Logan's face was one I wouldn't forget.

The rest of the afternoon went by quickly, and by seven that evening, we had two exhausted children who were fighting to stay awake.

"I think it's time for bed," Bella said as we came inside, and true to form, Logan began to protest that he wasn't tired even though his eyes were barely open.

"Well, you don't have to go to sleep right away, but you do need to get your pajamas on and get into bed," Bella told him.

"Fine," he grumbled as he began to trudge up the stairs. "But, I want five bedtime stories! Five! Because I'm five!"

"I think we can manage that," Bella said with a smile, and I grinned at her. Our boy was a bookworm much like his mama, and he loved to read stories to his little sister.

While Logan was changing into his pajamas, I helped Hannah into hers before tucking her into bed.

" _Goodnight Moon_!" she requested in a sleepy voice, and I grabbed the well-loved book off of her dresser. It was the one book she requested almost every night, and while I was sick of reading the damn thing, I'd do anything for my baby girl.

She was out before the story was finished, so I closed the book, made sure her night light was on, and left the room, keeping the door cracked.

I made my way down the hall to Logan's room and found him curled up next to his mama as she read _Frog and Toad are Friends_ , a book I remember reading when I was his age.

"Read with me, Daddy," he said, spying me in the doorway, so I settled down on the other side of our boy.

We finished the book just as he fell asleep, and I pressed a kiss to his forehead as I told him I loved him and I'd see him in the morning.

As Bella and I made our way back downstairs to clean up the mess that was made during the birthday party, I couldn't help but wrap my arms around her and give her a long, lingering kiss.

"Thank you," I told her.

"For what?"

"All of this."

"You're so cheesy," she said with a grin, leaning up to kiss me once more, "but I love you to death."

I held her tightly, so very grateful that despite all the drama it had caused, the Treasured Heart had brought her back into my life.

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 **a/n: I can't think you all enough for reading!**


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